" I ’m interested that I have a 15- or 16 - year - honest-to-goodness daughter out in the world somewhere who might fall attend for me in two years . "
We all have secrets, sometimes even from those closest to us: our family. And the closer we are to the people we’re keeping secrets from…the juicier the secrets feel.
So when Reddit useru/Extension_History57asked, “What is the biggest secret you’ve ever kept from your family?” I had to sit down while reading the responses. Here are 21 shocking and sometimes heartbreaking secrets that people are keeping from their families.
1.“This is my secret with my mom and dad that we kept from everyone else in the family. My dad is married to another woman; Mom is single. Mom and ‘Dad’ (hard to actually call him that) have been having an affair for 30-plus years; even their best friends don’t know about it. I was an accident. Dad stepped out of the picture because my parents didn’t want me to know about the affair and who he was. At 15, when I was told who he was, and tried to act cool so as not to upset my mom, he came back into my mom’s life (but absolutely not mine). I have three siblings who don’t know I exist: two brothers and a sister. They have the most amazing life — two-parent income, holidays, all the things I wanted as a kid in a family of three with a single mom. I went to high school with my brother. I’m in my mid-20s now. I still want to meet them; I just can’t be the one to break the secret and crush two families.”
— u / Wanderingwarwalrus
2.“About 13 years ago, I was informed that I had a daughter from my first serious relationship who was given up for adoption without my knowledge. Unbeknownst to her adoptive parents or her bio mom, she had the same heart defect I have (mine wasn’t found until I was about 26). She collapsed on a field at a park near where she lived in Massachusetts while playing soccer with other 7-year-olds. She passed away before they arrived at the hospital. Her bio mom, my ex, had kept in touch with the adoptive parents over the years, and our girl knew her as ‘Aunt xx.’ She had even given the adoptive parents some pictures of us together and gave them the story that I was in prison for moving some serious weight in drugs (complete fabrication).”
" After our girl ’s dying , my ex reached out , feeling guilty . I was able to get in skin senses with the adoptive parent . They were nice , middle - class people who loved her intensely and gave her everything a kid needed to flourish . I ’m glad she had people who lie with and cared for her the manner every child merit . I ’m glad the particular enigma of why my ex disappeared one day without a word was in conclusion solve . But I was absolutely overwrought that I was n’t given a chance to be a father . She never catch to meet her grandparents , who would have adored her , particularly my mom , who she look so much like .
" I never say my folks because I did n’t want to wear their meat ; I cognize how severely mine was broken . Thirteen years subsequently , I stand by that decision . They deserve to sleep together , but both are in miserable health , and I still ca n’t contribute myself to put it on them .
" My missy would be turn 21 this July . The only reason I trust there is an afterlife is so I can meet her . "
— u / Taanistat
3.“My 14-year-old godson is actually my biological child. About 16 years ago, I disappeared in the middle of the night to start a new life away from my toxic family and went no-contact with them for three years. I ended up getting pregnant from a one-night stand. I was homeless at the time, so keeping my son was not an option. My ex–best friend and her husband had been struggling to start a family of their own, so they offered to adopt my child. Plot twist: My husband and I currently have custody of my child and his four siblings. Their parents are in jail for domestic violence and child neglect.”
" I require to clarity a few things :
1 . My son does not know I am his biologic female parent , but we plan to narrate him shortly . My husband and I contrive to petition to adopt him and his siblings . Our attorney warned us that his blood line would amount up during the process . I need my Logos to get word it from me . He is currently combat PTSD due to the incident that brought the tyke into our aid . We are act upon with his healer to find the best way to tell him the truth without causing him more injury . He genial wellness is our top priority .
2 . My ex - supporter has endometriosis , which affect fertility . Pregnancy can put endometriosis into remission for some woman . She was one of the golden one . Once in remission , she had no problem conceptualise the other four Thomas Kid .
3 . My husband and I are raising 10 child . We are in the process of adopt my 12 - twelvemonth - old cousin and took hold of her two elder sisters last week . We also have a set of biological 1 - class - old twins . Eighteen calendar month ago , we hadzerokids . "
— uranium / TheUrbanFarmersWife
" My forefather never treated us any differently . I make love my father a piddling more after find out because I never once doubt how much he loved us all equally . I do resent my mother for having tell me , though . I wish she had n’t made me a occult - steward from my intact immediate family ( my dad does n’t know I know ) . I was young and confused . Now so much sentence has authorise that I feel like it ’s too recently . I find like part of me is cheat on my sister for not telling her , but I also feel like it would be a treason if I did . Fucked if you do , fucked if you do n’t . Thanks , Mom . "
— u / NopeJustMe
5.“I was very close to killing my biological father and would have followed through with it if a friend of mine, who works for the police, didn’t ‘prank’ pull me over while I was on my way to murder that fucker. My friend walked up to my car with a shit-eating grin and said, “Hello, Sir, do you know why I pulled you over?” bullshit (something he’d done a couple of times before already). But then he realized that I was really not feeling well and asked what the fuck was going on. I told him, and said he’s free to follow me and lock me up after I’m done. He looked back to his colleague, who was waiting in the cop car, then back to me and just said, ‘Drive home, go to your mother.’ And I did.”
" He descend over to my place later that evening and give me a stern talking - to because of the situation I would have involved him in as well , simply by telling him what my plan was . We had a duo of beers and babble , and I promise him that I ’d never even think about this ever again . Aaaaand that is jolly much it .
" Looking back , I realize how much of a cock move my tell him what was going on really was . And he should have arrested me on the berth . I still do n’t really know why I even say anything in the first position . Maybe I wanted to be kibosh — also deliberate how well I ' gave up . ' "
— u / OneMorePotion
6.“I had a bilateral salpingectomy (removal of both fallopian tubes, a permanent form of birth control). Most of my (very Catholic, children-are-blessings-and-you-should-have-eight!) family knows I was never into the idea of raising kids and/or being pregnant, but they figured I’d change my mind. I got it done very young, and they think it was something with my ovary (true, a cyst ruptured, so I electively overkilled the whole problem), not that it was a fairly elective sterilization as a result. Now I just let them think that I ‘wasn’t blessed with children’ — easier than the alternative.”
— atomic number 92 / abqkat
7.“When I was 19, I had a one-night stand with my grandparents' 34-year-old married neighbor. She insisted on me not wearing protection because she was supposedly allergic to latex. I, being a dumb, horny teenager, went with it because…dick wet. Since her husband was out of the country for a month on business as of three days earlier, she proceeded to rock my fucking world. I only ever joked about having ejaculations in the double digits before that day. She proved that it was possible. We started at about 10 that morning; she kicked me out around 8 that evening. I didn’t see her for seven months afterward because my parents had me move back in with them across the state. I saw her at Christmas at my grandparents' house and she was very pregnant. She later gave birth to a blonde baby girl. The mother is brunette and the husband has black hair.”
" It take me until I was 25 to march that the little fille in dubiousness is more than likely my child . I do n’t do it where their family is now . I ’m 35 now and I ’m concerned that I have a 15- or 16 - year - honest-to-god daughter out in the world somewhere who might come front for me in two twelvemonth . "
— atomic number 92 / feronen
8.“I posed nude in a tasteful art project when i was 20. It was supposed to be a small, private exhibition, but then it blew up, and at one point my naked image was on our major city’s website to advertise a popular art festival, and a printed large version was displayed at a popular market during the festival. It was also printed in a book series. I was so worried that my parents would see, but so far it’s been 12 years and they still don’t know. I am actually really proud of the work we did and sometimes consider showing them the book, but they might murder me.”
— u / sweetparamour79
9.“I was addicted to fentanyl for almost a year and then beat that addiction all on my own! I just passed one year off of it, and I haven’t considered going back once!”
— uracil / RoseGold_Stoner
10.“My family has no idea that I had an abortion when I was 23. They would never, ever forgive me. I have no guilt or regret over my decision. If forgiveness was ever needed, I gave it to myself a long time ago. However, it would not be worth the headache I would get from my deeply right-wing family if they ever found out. All they ever need to know is that my mom thought I was pregnant and it turned out I wasn’t.”
— uracil / VodkaKahluaMilkCream
11.“I’ve been an escort since I was 17. I came from a poor and neglectful family, and I just wanted to feel loved and taken care of. Luckily, I found a woman who ran an agency that cared about my safety and treated me better than any of my family ever did. I put myself through college, I’m saving up for a house, I have three retirement plans, I pay taxes legally through my ‘business,’ and I have a relatively normal and happy life. I still lie about what work I do; nothing can compare to making the amount of money I make without sacrificing years of my life to be poor, like many of my peers.”
— u / Gwynethyoung
12.“I once tried to kill a family member because they broke my Barbie doll when I was 5, so I added a few sleeping pills to their tea.”
" I came to my grass when it did n’t work and I realized I would repent it . happy I listened to my sense of right and wrong . "
— u / M3mento - Mori
13.“I was brought to a prostitute and lost my virginity to her when I was 13. My family would crumble if I opened my mouth about the things I know.”
" This was 11 years ago . It was my grandfather who bring me to her , purportedly as my wages for pose secondly in my class ; he called it ' baptism . ' I really recollect I was getting inundate underwater to be baptized . "
— atomic number 92 / AI0Sss
14.“I once told a guy I had been hooking up with to come over and have fun with me while I slept. I kept the back door unlocked. Told him to come in, get naked, and come into my bedroom nude and do things. He walked in, got undressed to his boxers, and ended up wandering around the house looking for my bedroom. He went into my mom’s bedroom, and she woke up and thought it was a robber — coming to abuse her. He fled. She called the police.”
" They come and took her statement . She got a security alert installed the next day and paid extra for weekend emergency initiation . She let special bars to draw a blank her front and back door cover for extra protection . Changed the ignition lock to expensive particular lock that ca n’t be pick , with particular paint that are hard to reproduce . She never sleep raw any longer out of fear , and it ’s been 10 - plus years .
" It got so thick so fast that I could n’t tell her it was my fault and an accident before she went overboard , and now I ca n’t secern her the Sojourner Truth because she ’d pour down me . I ’ve always feel tremendous about it . "
— u / Mylaex
15.“My stepsister’s son is my son, and we have been together for 11 years. No one knows; this has been a well-kept secret.”
— atomic number 92 / EstablishmentSea9591
16.“My boss at the time was my girlfriend’s father. He frequently traveled for work and would always acquire multiple types of drugs while he was in Central America (for a commercial fireworks business). He had a safe at the house, and I overheard him telling the code to his wife. I cleaned it out and framed it on my ex’s brother, as he was a frequent and known user.”
" After I became addicted to opioids and trash , my personality , precedence , and living in ecumenical rapidly began to revolve around my localisation . I inaugurate my duplicate brother to opioids , who became addicted as well .
" I lose closely 10 years of my life and steal well-nigh the same time from my blood brother .
" Every undivided day is a battle living with the fact that I am responsible for for stealing chiliad of dollars in drugs , for their family break , and for my brother ’s dependance , along with my own serious addiction . My sept now knows about the addictions , and we are both in full retrieval ( five - plus years ! ) . That ’s the only silver lining in this story .
" I know I vocalise like an old man here , but please , please , do not try out opioids ( or other illicit drugs ) unless order for a rightfully necessary position . You may lose your life faster than you ever thought potential , either figuratively or literally . If you have an opioid addiction or roll in the hay someone who does , do your best to have training for Narcan kit . They can keep lives in seconds . "
— u / MrFrankReynolds
17.“I moved with my wife (then-girlfriend) from the Northeast to the South so she could go to med school. We were leaving family and friends behind, although many of our friends were scattering to opposite coasts and elsewhere. Her parents were overbearing and still treated her like a 15-year-old. My parents were pushy and judgmental, with some issues with alcohol to boot. My two younger brothers were in their early 20s and still living at home, having dropped out of college, or working out of my parents’ basement. My parents’ house was like a frat house. Drinking almost every night, weed, and no one in the house worked more than three days a week at one point. We saw the move as a ‘refresh button.'”
" We put some length between us and our families so that my married woman could feel like an grownup and I was remove from the lifestyle and influence of my family .
" Two weeks into our move into our fresh flat , we were living on clouds , just so well-chosen to have our own space and be with each other . Then she get a call . It was the entree director from the med schooltime 15 minutes by from our hometown , offering her a spot that had become vacant . They gave her 24 hours to adjudicate .
" We sat that night and debate all of the pro and cons of moving back home . We talked about getting a topographic point together in our hometown but quickly understand that it would have been much good financially to just move back in with our parent .
" She turned down the offer . We do n’t regret it for a instant . We never tell a soul that we could have almost moved back home ; there would have been far too much animosity . "
— u / Chahles88
18.“I was going into senior year of high school in 2000 when my family went away on a quick end-of-summer vacation. I worked as a lifeguard and had a dog, so I stayed home. My uncle’s (my mother’s sister’s husband) father passed away while my parents were away. Cellphones barely existed back then, so whoever was making the calls to let everyone know about his passing and about funeral arrangements was calling houses directly. We must have been left off the list because I never got the message to relay to my parents. They probably could have ended their trip early if they got the message, or at least called to offer support to my aunt and uncle, but since there was no message to relay, they were unaware of his death and did neither of those things.”
" The family insisted that we had to have incur a phone call . My parents ask me , I differentiate them we did n’t , and my parents say so — a little overturned that they were left off the list in the first property . This cause aHUGEfight in my family , to the degree where I have n’t date my auntie , uncle , and cousin since 2000 .
" I flummox the call .
" I remember it like it was yesterday . I was running out the doorway , late for body of work , when the phone rang . I was tell about his death and funeral organisation , then I ran out the door , promptly blank out about the conversation until my parents demand me about it . At that degree , my parent had already missed his funeral , so I figured the best answer was , ' No , I did n’t get any phone calls from them . perchance they left a substance . Check the car . ' I did n’t realise it was conk to turn into a 23 - year feud , and by the time I realized itwasa feud , I knew I was in too recondite to do clean . "
— u/-Handsome - Jim-
Finally, let’s end on a few that are a bit lighter:
19.“My brother and I sawAliensas kids, and we were super intrigued by the flamethrowers. In a feat of idiotic 13-year-old brilliance, we determined that a Super Soaker filled with Aquanet, with a butane lighter strapped to the front, might actually work the same. To our utter shock, it did.”
" Shot 20 - foot streams of unenviable flame . We were just overjoyed . Until said gummy flame hit the side of the house and it caught on fire . Oh shit ! So we race over , and between my shirt and the hose , we got it out , but there was a large coloured spot on the side of the house . So we disassembled and cleaned out the flamethrower , and mum was the word .
" Thirty days later , we ’re consume dinner over at the folks ' house , and Dad remarks that they paint the house and ‘ finally got free of that weird morose spot . ’ Much sneaky chortling result . frankly , how do kids pull through childhood ? We ’re all idiots . "
— u / AndrogynousRain
20.“When I was a kid, I dropped the rake while working in the yard, and the handle landed in dog poop. Instead of cleaning it off, I used duct tape to seal off the poop from the outside world. It ended up being used for almost 10 years after that, and I always thought about that rake’s dirty secret: The secret was poop!”
— u / whyunoletmepost
21.And finally, this one’s just sweet: “A secret from my grandparents, whom I adored. They were actually my great-aunt and -uncle, having raised my mother from the age of 2. Her mother had passed away, and her father was an alcoholic who ended up enlisting and going to war during World War II. I had a habit of looking through my parents’ wedding album when I was very young. I loved the dresses, etc. At the back of the book was their marriage license, and I saw when I was about 11 that my mother’s last name was not the same as my grandparents' last name. I asked her, and she told me they were not her biological parents. I never told them I knew because I didn’t want them to feel less than my grandparents, which they absolutely were. By this time, my biological grandfather had passed. They were always Nana and Grandpa to me, and they were amazing grandparents.”
— u / TinktheChi
mention : Some submission have been edit for length and/or pellucidity .
