You Won’t Believe How General Hospital’s Nathan and Nina Are Related

Ryan Paevey is back in Port Charles as Nathan West, which immediately reopened a very soap-y can of worms: how exactly are Nathan and Nina related? Nina calls him her brother, but the family tree says something else. Here’s the quick version, and then the messy, twisty history that only General Hospital could pull off.

The short version

Nathan and Nina don’t share the same parents, but they were both raised by Madeline Reeves. Biology says they’re cousins. Their lives say they’re siblings. And on this show, the latter tends to win.

The long, twisty version (because of course it is)

• Nathan originally came to Port Charles to look into the supposed murder of Nina Reeves. At the time, everyone believed Nina was dead.
• Both Nathan and Nina were brought up by Madeline Reeves. The shocker: Madeline had actually dosed Nina with what was meant to be a fatal overdose. Nina survived and spent years in a coma.
• When Nina eventually woke up, she and Nathan reunited. Cue the messy family revelations.
• In 2014, while Nathan was getting flirty with Britt, he discovered Madeline wasn’t his biological mother at all — she was his aunt. His real mother? Madeline’s sister, Liesl Obrecht. That also made Britt his sister.
• Then came the 2018 bombshell: Nathan’s father is Cesar Faison, one of General Hospital’s most infamous villains.
• Put it together and the math is simple: Nina (Madeline’s daughter) and Nathan (Liesl’s son) are cousins by blood. But because they were raised under Madeline’s roof, they’ve always treated each other like brother and sister — and still do, even after the truth came out.

Where this leaves things now

Nathan is back, the family tree is still a minefield, and this is General Hospital — which means more fireworks are basically guaranteed. If history is any guide, the next round of twists is already loading.