Family Secrets So Crazy They Must Be True
From unknown twins to surprising adoption revelations, the secrets some families keep feel like bombshells when the truth finally comes out. These revelations can seemingly come out of nowhere, revealed at the most inopportune times. Still, wouldn't you want to know if your cousin was really your brother? The stories you are about to read are all true, shared by some brave Reddit users. Once you're done reading them, you might be relieved to know just how normal your family really is!
Crime Runs In The Family
Reddit user Scheme-Daz always knew his family was involved in organized crime, but never knew how deep they were until he joined the business. Then he learned why his mom's side of the family hates his dad's side so much.
"I recently found out why my mums side of the family, especially my uncle resent my dad's side. Turns out my oldest brother robbed my uncle of a big bag of money. My dad forced him to give it back, but it seemingly never stopped any resentment. My uncle really doesn’t like my dads side at all now, and I’m pretty sure his family (he’s married in) might be at war with my brothers."
Not His Full Brother
It took nonyabizz27 years for his family to tell him the truth about his brother. Even worse, he was the last person in the family to learn this secret!
"I'm told the truth that he is indeed NOT my father's biological son. The 'work buddy' in the pictures was HIS half brother. And apparently, my WHOLE ENTIRE FAMILY knew about this. Uncles, aunts, cousins. Everybody knew but for some reason i was strung along for years that it was just a prank."
Forced Marriage
One user found out the truth about why his parents got married by his brother. It turns out the marriage was forced, and he was the reason why. You can probably guess where this is going.
"I found out my parents had to get married when my mom became pregnant with me. Yeah, that was a thing back in the day. It took 60 years to find out and when my bro told me I laughed my [expletive] off. He found out going through public records for a family tree. Mom went to her grave with this secret."
When You Are The Secret
User anxietysobble spent his life knowing that his father chose another family over raising him. The only question he has now is whether or not his estranged father has told the family he chose about him. Is he the secret?
"I've just turned 20 and my only memory of him is being around 10 and running into him at a mcdonalds in another city, trying to talk to him and him basically rejecting me and abandoning me all over again... Am I his family's secret? Did he move on and start a new family with that woman or someone else and have kids he wanted to keep and raise? If so do they know about me? What would they think? Would they want to meet me? Would they hate him? Do my grandparent's on his side even know I exist? Are they mad at him too?"
Family Is More Than Blood
Even though burningf1re found out too late that her grandfather wasn't actually her grandfather, she didn't love him any less. She just wishes she knew before he passed away so she could tell him how grateful she was to have had him in her life.
"...he passed away when I was 12. None of my cousins knew about "the secret" and neither did I. My mom hadn't told me because my grandfather was so scared I wouldn’t love him if I knew, which to this day breaks my heart. I found out about everything the day after his funeral and I just wished I could hug him one last time and tell him that it doesn’t matter that we aren’t blood related."
Still Uncovering The Truth
This next user uncovered the truth about possibly having a secret brother on accident and just wants to know the truth. The problem is his family refuses to give him a straight answer on what that truth is!
"I asked my mum about this and she said the woman was lying and that she [another woman] was never pregnant but when I asked my sister about it she told my sister a different story saying the woman had a baby boy but it wasn't my dad's. So now I have this tiny bit of information I can't stop thinking about it because my potential brother probably lives in the same city as me and I desperately want to find him. My mum and dad claim they don't remember the woman's name and I find that very hard to believe and just not sure what to do I can't go my whole life with never knowing."
The Resemblance Is Uncanny
The next Reddit user has no confirmation that her cousin is the child of her ex-boyfriend, but when she looks at them next to each, she's convinced she's right.
"My uncle and his now ex wife were in their early 30s usually were always around on these vacations and their marriage wasn't great. Then all of the sudden she’s pregnant and wants to work things out. My boyfriend and I broke up right after the baby was born. The older the kid got the more she looked just like my ex! No one ever suspected that they had been doing anything but you can’t look at her and not see it. My uncle’s wife ended up leaving him a few years later for some dude she met online. He almost bankrupted himself fighting for custody and now he is paying for her to go to college and has bought her a car."
The House Cleaner's Child
One family member still hasn't learned the truth about her mother. Apparently, she was the product of an affair her dad had with the house cleaner. Now's she's grown up with children of her own and still has no idea.
"Not me but I go on here and constantly and look for a post from my cousin to see if she's finally realized that her mom isn’t actually her mom and that she is the product of an affair between her Dad and their house cleaner. She’s 42 now and has kids and her mother passed away years ago but their are few remaining people left in my family who know the truth as we all vowed to keep it a secret from her to her mother."
Robbed Blind
Sometimes, love and marriage is really just a ploy to rob someone of their riches so you don't have to work a day in your life.
"When they married, Uncle H began to execute his plan. Uncle H slowly, quietly began to accumulate a great sum of money from her accounts, IRAs and savings accounts he was given access to following the marriage. He robbed this woman blind, left her in serious debt, and then fled the country to Canada, where he met a new woman and created a new life for himself until the day his first wife died. Uncle H then returned to the States and was welcomed by my grandparents and their children as if nothing ever happened. He now lives in the States full-time and I don't know that he’s ever worked."
A DNA Test Doozy
Reddit user johndee88 had no idea he was adopted until he took a DNA test. When he got the results, it became clear to him that there was no way his parents were actually his parents.
"Apparently I was born in chechnya and my real parents are both dead from the war. My entire life I thought I was American. I just don't understand why my "parents" never told me. It's all because I took a DNA test and found out I have family in chechnya and they told me the truth. I asked my parents and they finally told me the truth. I'm 31 now and i can't believe this."
A Secret Twin
Seaherne94 found out they had a twin on accident at the doctors office. And now, even though they want to know more, their mom refuses to talk about it.
"So I found out during a post-op doctors appointment that I am a twin, and my twin died in the womb and was reabsorbed. I didn't know this at the time (age 13 or so) and honestly even though mum said we'd talk about it later, we never did. I have never got over this."
When Your Cousin Is Really Your Sister
User wildcatingman1976 always knew that his father and uncle hated each other. But it took finding out that his cousin was really his sister to understand why.
"Apparently, my Uncle can't have children because of an accident in his youth which was somehow my father's fault (I think my dad hit him with something in a sensitive area). Anyways, my aunt and uncle split up for a week five or six years before I was born. My dad and my aunt apparently hooked up. My cousin, who I thought was my cousin for 30+ years, is actually my sister. My uncle hates my dad. Makes sense."
A Family Secret With A Plot Twist
Ducksmasher84 was relieved when she found out her father wasn't really her father. When she learned who her real father was, however, a plot twist came that no one saw coming.
"My mum contacted my bio dad only to find out that not only is he now a she but that she also wants to meet me and now im seeing my mom every week and cant be happier. So the secret was that the man i thought was my father wasn't and he was also a huge [expletive]. And the man who was my dad is actually my mom. My mum and mom are now dating and happy!"
This Is How To Get Kicked Out Of Ireland
Getting kicked out of Ireland is easier than you might think. You just need to figure out how to steal as many sheep from your neighbors as possible.
"[M]y former best friend told me this story about a year ago. her family is irish, and yea... a long time ago, i think 18th or 19th century, her family were living in ireland at the time. they were poor and decided to steal some sheep. they stole a couple hundred sheep from a bunch of farms and they were kicked out of ireland. they came back and they stole some more. and that's my story. thanks for listening."
Born Out Of Wedlock
One user shared a rather odd story about how her mother thought she was conceived during the honeymoon. It was only discovered 71 years later she was actually born before the wedding the even happened!
"For 71 years, my mother has believed she was conceived on her parents' honeymoon. For their 50th anniversary, my aunts thought it would be nice to get a copy of their marriage license framed to display in their house. Except when they got the official license from the state where they were married...it was for a year later! They were married when my mother was 3 months old. The license was destroyed. They agreed never to tell my mother. In 2013, one of my aunts told me the story shortly before my grandfather passed away. No one has told my mother yet. It's a strange secret to be asked to keep."
The Moment You Find Out Your Sister Is Your Mother
Families will do strange things to put on a show normalcy for the outside world. Take for instance this Reddit user, who got the shock of her life when she found out her sister was actually her mother!
"[M]y sister (she was 16 when I was born, and kicked out) is my mother. Her mother (my grandma raised me as her daughter). It doesn't end there... To this day I don’t know who my real dad is. My grandma was in her forties when she 'had' me. And my sister was sent to a boarding school when she was pregnant with me. My sister has no idea that I know."
Not So Homemade After All
One mother was so embarrassed that one her "homemade" recipes wasn't her own that she hid the truth from her children for years.
"One of my most beloved 'mom's recipe' recipes was actually Hamburger Helper. She was a from-scratch cook and literally everything else we ate she made herself. She never told us because it made her so mad that her kids would love a boxed meal so much. She did it once out of sheer desperation because she didn’t have time to cook one night. We ended up loving it. I only found out in college because I begged for the recipe."
The World's Best Fudge
One grandparent tried to take his secret fudge recipe to the grave with him. According to dorkmagnet123 it was only after his grandfather passed on that the secret family recipe was revealed.
"I begged my grandpa for years to get his Christmas fudge recipe and he always told me it was a family secret he'd tell me when I was older. When he passed away I thought the secret passed with him. Years later my mom told me that grandpa's Christmas fudge was the recipe on the back of the marshmallow creme jar. I laughed and cried because that was just so......GRANDPA!"
More Than Just Friends
For some reason, it had never occurred to one Reddit user that their aunt's best friend was more than just a friend. What's even more surprising is no one chose to tell them!
"...my aunt's close friend that she lives with is actually her girlfriend. Was about 22 when they told me. Never even thought about it until it was said. Weird how I was completely oblivious to this for so many years."
A Replacement Rabbit
Parents never want to break their kid's heart by telling them that their pet passed away. These parents went as far as to replace their child's rabbit with another one after they found the body.
"My pet rabbit got attacked by something a couple years after I got it. My parents found it dead and replaced it before I found out. I just thought my rabbit lived super long but it was actually two rabbits. This happened over 10 years ago and I found out last year."
The Lies Parents Tell
Another Reddit user had a similar experience with their beta fish. Their mother was cleaning the tank when the fish died, leading to a web of lies that included a story about how fish can molt their scales.
"She called my dad who happened to be in the next largest city (also a 2-hour plane ride away from home) and told him to buy another beta that looked similar. She also asked our neighbor to tell me about how fish can molt heir scales like birds do with their feathers. It worked perfectly and I had no idea until my new beta died several years later. I thought I had a world record going with my fish's lifespan."
Some Secrets Stay Secrets
When couples don't believe in divorce, it can lead to some awkward living arrangements. User GideonIsmail claims that his grandparents eventually just stopped talking to each other, but continued to live together, although no one knows why.
"...my grandparents didn't talk to each other 20 YEARS before my grandfather finally kicked the bucket. They lived in the same house the entire time too and no one knows why they weren't on speaking terms."
A Brand New Cousin
User monopoppi admitted to being so sensitive as a kid that his family didn't tell him about a cousin he had. The cousin was sick, and they didn't want to upset him.
"I didn't know one of my cousins existed until I was about ten years old. Turns out he was diagnosed with Leukemia as a child and I was a very sensitive kid, so my family decided not tell me until the treatment was successful and he recovered. It would have been okay if they told me as soon as he was healthy again, but I guess they forgot so the first time I met him, I was wondering how exactly I managed to forget the existence of a whole person..."
Almost Had A Sibling
GrilledCrabCat was taken by surprise when she found out what happened to the sibling she thought she was going to have. She was seven at the time, and her mother didn't want to tell her the sad truth.
"When I was seven years old, I remember my mom was really excited and telling me I was gonna have a little sibling. Then one day she suddenly stopped talking about it. I kinda just assumed she made a mistake and really wasn't pregnant. Fast forward to last month and she told me that pregnancy ended in a miscarriage. Probably should’ve expected that but it was still kind of shocking to hear."
So Everyone Doesn't Have A Poop Knife?
Reddit user ohalligan explained that their family had a knife that was specifically for when the log is too big to be flushed. The real problem arose when they asked for "the poop knife" when they were at a friend's house. Of course, the friend had no idea what they were talking about.
The Reddit used thought maybe they had other names such as "A fecal cleaver? A Dung divider? A guano glaive?" Unfortunately, the friend had to awkwardly explain that poop knives are not a common occurrence in the real world.
Taken Hostage
IsvsWorld shared one of the craziest family secrets when he learned that his father was taken hostage while his mother was pregnant with him.
"...a dude who was getting chased by the police for stealing cars and high out of his mind ran into a home of four, (in Canada it's actually common to leave your front door unlocked when you’re home) and took my father hostage with a knife to his throat. There was a part about my brother (aged four at the time) grabbing his plastic samurai sword (we regularly visit family in Japan, he probably got it there) and running to where my father was... My father calmly talked to the crazy car stealing dude, and the police managed to get him out alive. When I talked to my dad about it over the phone, he said he still has scars from the incident."
A Hidden Gender Swap
This wasn't a family secret for very long, but it did take needsnottocontinue by surprise. The story took place just before Christmas when their dad decided they need to come clean about something.
"Dad sits us down some time before Christmas and says 'I am a woman...' my mom knew several months before and was really stressing about what would happen when my siblings and I were told. A more accurate response to the question would be regarding my aunt, who had been transgender all my life without me knowing."
Another DNA Reveal
This whole family (except the mother) was in the dark about this secret. This secret was never supposed to be revealed. If only __littlesppon__'s mother had stopped her husband from buying those Ancestry DNA kits!
"He got my sisters and me those Ancestry DNA kits for Christmas to do for fun as a family and once we got the results, it showed he wasn't my biological father. The [expletive] up thing is my mom knew the whole time and never told anyone. For 26 years she kept this a secret and never had any intention of telling the truth."
Best Friends Become Sisters
Growing up, HostileEgo wanted nothing more than to have an older sister. When they turned 11, they learned that sometimes dreams come true.
"Found out when I was 11 that the older girl who lived down the street from me who was like a sister to me was actually my older sister. We have a great relationship as adults. We talk a dozen times a year or so and visit each other sometimes, but it is a very meaningful relationship and we really did a lot of growing up together."
Planned Or Unplanned
Odentay grew up believing that she was planned. That's what her mother always told her. Then she turned 24-years-old and learned, "My mom planned me, I always believed. Wasn't til I was 24 I learned my father didn't..." Of course, this story doesn't end there. Finding out the truth led to the answer of another question about her life.
This revelation opened her eyes to the way her father treated her growing up, "And that's why my father [expletive] hates me."
An Insatiable Uncle
Some secrets are publicly known but never really talked about by families. That's the case for watababe, who revealed that when her uncle would go away on weekend trips, everyone knew what he was really doing.
"My uncle cheated on my aunt when he'd go away on weekends for events related to a hobby a little over a decade into their marriage, and apparently everyone at those weekends knew. My aunt would be home with three young kids while he was openly running around with another woman."
