Whether you like to admit it or not, every family has secrets.
Even yours.
Even mine.
I’m sure my parents have some awful stories that they never told me or any of my brothers and sisters just because they didn’t want us to be upset or disturbed.
Now we’re about to dive into some confessions that people have about the secrets they’re keeping from their own kids.
Here are some very interesting stories from AskReddit users.
1. Classy!
“My daughter was conceived at work, on airport property, in the back of a fucking Ford Focus, while we were waiting for a medflight to land.
She knows nothing about this but tells me she wants to be a pilot when she grows up.”
2. From the past…
“I’m the child of a parent that hid something horrible until I was 27: One day when my parents has a domestic dispute, my dad called me just to “get back at my mom”.
He said, “do you want to know something about your whore mother? She slept with over 30 guys during our first two years of marriage!” I just sat down and started stuttering.
He said “you know how people have always said you looked different than the rest of the kids?” I said, “yeah…” “That’s because I’m not your dad. Your mom slept with my best friend and you were conceived. Another thing! Your brother (the one just younger than me—I’m the oldest) belongs to my brother!”
My mom just bawled in the background without denying it. I just laughed. And then I went into two years of therapy.”
3. Terrible.
“That she can’t have a relationship with her grandfather because he’s a pedophile and I would never trust him. The rest of my family maintains a relationship with him and leans on me hard to open up communication because “family comes first.”
They are absolutely right, my family does come first, which is why my daughter won’t ever have to have a relationship with him.
He has molested/raped multiple members of my family and I only found out when I was pregnant with my daughter.
Without going into too much detail, he also has a mental illness and I’ve been told that I need to let him have a relationship with my daughter because he’s sick and couldn’t help it.”
4. Adopted kids.
“Adoptive parent of three kids two of which are biological siblings and cousins. Found out a year after the adoption that the biological parents were half siblings who shared the same dad.
The bio parents found out after they had the first child and proceeded to have another. The kids are now 16 and 13 respectively and have zero clue that they are a product of incest.
Unfortunately their biological grandpa just passed away, so there very well could be a big reveal coming in the near future.”
5. They don’t know.
“I’m hiding a lot of things.
I used to be a stripper for 10 years, growing up in an abusive house, I partied hard and used to be part of NYC and Montreal club scene, that I was kidnapped and taken to another country. There’s alot of things… Now I’m just a boring accountant mom to everyone. No one has any clue what I’ve been through.
Crazy what your kids don’t know about you.”
6. Doesn’t need to know.
“My son was a product of rape.
He just thinks I had really low standards in men at one point.”
7. Uncle Jimmy.
“The reason we don’t talk to Uncle Jimmy is because he molested 8 students while he was a teacher for 20 years, went to jail, and is now treated as if he is a leper in our city.”
8. A secret.
“My wife and I each have a child from a previous marriage. Both of our ex-spouses were abusive cheaters. Both children still adore and idolize their other parent and we just keep smiling and nodding.
It is a secret that we will maintain for years.”
9. Poppin’ pills.
“Before I found out I was pregnant with my first child, I took a shit ton of pills.
I think it’s the closest I’ve ever come to suicide. I had always dealt with anxiety and depression. I feel like the extra hormones put me over the edge. I found out about a week later that I was pregnant (surprise). I was terrified the entire pregnancy that something would be wrong with him. Luckily, he was completely healthy and is an incredibly smart child.
I’ve never told anyone. I feel so guilty.”
10. He left you.
“My son is still very young, but I’m not planning to tell him his dad left us for meth and another woman (hes clean now and they actually split). He’s at least involved again.
As long as his dad stays clean and wants to be involved then I don’t plan on telling him. If it does come up I would like to give his dad the chance to explain everything, and I’ll be there for any questions as well as support.
My biological dad left us for heroin when I was a kid and I always thought it that he didn’t want me; I don’t ever want my son to feel that way. I harbor no ill will towards my ex and I truly hope that he does stay clean for his own sake and the kids (he has an older daughter with someone else).”
11. Not the mother.
“My wife is not the biological mother of our twins. We did IVF and their biological mother was an egg donor from a country in South America. My wife carried them and gave birth to them, but has no biological connection. We’ll tell them some day when they’re older.
It’s a little bit strange, but one looks exactly like me at that age, and the other one looks very much like my brother.
Edit: I can’t believe that this blew up so big! My highest rated comment is about a family secret. Thanks to everyone for all the great advice about letting the cat out of the bag to our twins. Comments from people in this situation were especially helpful. Comments about the biological aspects were very helpful and educational.
For anyone wondering, our twins are 8.5 years old and my side of the family has known the truth from a time long before the procedure occurred. For whatever reason my wife decided to tell her family that she was the egg donor, I the sperm donor, and that we did IVF because we were older and needed medical help to get her preggers. I never understood why, but went along with it because it was what she wanted.
I will broach the subject when my wife gets back in country from a long work trip.”
12. Uh oh.
“My daughter knows that her grandparents are getting a divorce. She doesn’t know that it’s because grandpa (72) decided to knock up a 23 year old. We will talk about it once she’s older, but I don’t want to normalize that relationship for a preadolescent.
This is my father-in-law, he’s definitely not rich, in fairly impressive shape for a dude pulling social security, and I am happily ignorant as to the status of his erections. It’s a small town story with a fucked up single mom and a old man that hasn’t experienced much emotional growth since being drafted for service in Vietnam.
These people would never end up together if they were emotionally healthy and didn’t have control issues.
I am definitely going to do my best to explain to my daughter, but she’s nine and emotionally overwhelmed by the very idea of the divorce. When she comes to me to talk about it (having processed the idea), then I will explain the situation more fully.
My husband has already told his dad that our family and his new family won’t be getting together for a barbecue anytime in the foreseeable future.”
13. Glad that you’re happy.
“My son was planned, but after separating from his father when my son was 8 months old and having basically nowhere to go/no way to actually take care of us on our own, many many times I thought about the possibility of dropping him off at the hospital and skipping town.
I never did, and he is eight now and we are very happy.”
14. A story from the kid.
“I’m the kid.
Until I was 12 I thought that I knew my bio dad. That man left when I was around 6 and my mom started dating the man I call and accept as dad. I just thought people left and you moved on.
On the way to cheerleading practice when I was 12 my grandma says “you know Steve isn’t your real dad?”. I said “no?” And that was it. I found out about 4 years later that my mom was having an affair with my bio dad. One night she was brutally beaten and raped, she called bio dad from the hospital and he said he was on his way.
She never heard from him again. I am 30. She suspects that he arranged the rape. When I was 18 I got a message on FB that started off “You don’t know me but I know you, don’t delete this”. It honestly sounded like one of those chain letters. Turns out it was my half sister from bio dad.
She and I are now FB friends but haven’t met in person. I have no desire to meet bio. My actual dad that raised me is literally amazing. I could not have custom ordered a better father. My mom left him when I was 16 after cheating on him with a woman.
He sat me down and told me that just because he and my mom broke up doesn’t mean that him and I did. He continued to financially support me and never missed a beat.
He met his wife 10 years ago and stepped in as dad to her then 5 year old. He is so badass.”
Wow. Interesting stuff.
Now we want to hear from you.
In the comments, please share some of your own family secrets.
We look forward to hearing from you!
