10 People Who Discovered a Secret That Changed Their Lives Forever

Unearthing surprising truths about those closest to us can lead to profound changes in our lives. Whether uncovering concealed identities or revealing hidden pasts, the revelation of shocking secrets about our loved ones has the potential to permanently alter our connections with them and influence the course of our own lives. The individuals we highlight today have encountered a reality so shocking that it has propelled them into a tumultuous journey of intense emotions.

• My great-grandmother was married to 3 different people at the same time. The men were from different branches of the military, she was collecting all 3 of their paychecks at a time. © Doge-Poop-Bag / Reddit

• My mother had a child when she was a teenager, and she had given him up for adoption to a family. After this, she went to college, got her degree, married my father, and gave birth to my 4 siblings and me. 30 years after giving her child up for adoption, I remember her getting a phone call and immediately locking herself in her room. I was about 12 at the time. I remember feeling scared because I could hear my mom crying, but she didn’t want to see anybody or talk about why she was crying.
  On an evening later that week, my parents sat each of us kids down and told us about my mom’s past and explained that my half-brother had reached out to my mom wanting to meet her and get to know her. My dad had known ever since he and mom were dating in college, and I believe my oldest sister had been told previous to this point. But the rest of my siblings and myself and all of the in-laws on my dad side (my grandma, aunts, and uncles etc.) didn’t know about this part of her past. We are fairly conservative, so it was really shocking at first.
  My mom then flew out to the state where my half-brother lived with her sisters and met him. Both my mom and my half-brother were very nervous about the whole thing, but by the end of their trip meeting each other, they got to rebuild a relationship. After a bit of time, we (my siblings and I) got to meet him too.
  Fast-forwarding to now, he’s since moved to our same state, and we see him much more frequently. He’s in all of our family pictures, we see him occasionally for holidays and birthdays, and we all see him as part of our family. We’re a very close-knit and extroverted family, while he is much shyer, so at times he can be a bit more distant than we would like, but we give him his space. I know my mom stays in close touch with him, and we love it when he’s able to make it for family dinners and whatnot. © thomasguyregis / Reddit

• Discovered that my sister stole my father’s $25k Rolex not more than 24 hours after he died. I only discovered it when her and her husband made a frivolous purchase and I wondered where they got the money since they were always broke and begging my parents for money.
  I got suspicious, it hit me that she might have stolen and sold the Rolex. Had the paperwork, ran a track on the sales history and discovered it had been sold to a pawn shop down the street from where my sister lives. Went to the pawn shop and after a bit of persuasion got them to tell me who sold it to them, and it was my sister. My mom and I disowned her. © dallased25 / Reddit

• My (former) best friend cheated on his wife, multiple times. I found out because he tried getting me to cheat on my wife. He was the best man at our wedding. © thefupachalupa / Reddit

• My aunt wasn’t my grandfather’s child. He met my granny when my aunt was a very sick infant, she had polio and wasn’t expected to survive. My grandad married my granny so she could get on his insurance and move to an area that had proper medical support.
  My aunt was the first infant to survive open-heart surgery at Yale New Haven hospital, and although she had to be in leg braces most of her childhood, she had a great (although not long enough) life. My grandad loved her like she was his own, and I never knew until she went to her bio dad’s funeral when I was a teenager. © knittybitty123 / Reddit

• My dad fathered a child in high school. His side of the family knew, and my mom. We found out years after he died that we have a half-sister. © 2leewhohot / Reddit

• My pet rabbit got attacked by something a couple of years after I got it. My parents found it 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. © imissfrostedtips / Reddit

• 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... © monopoppi / Reddit

• My mom received birthday cards with money in them for years from her parents. She kept the cards with the money in them, saving to buy a piano/sentimental reasons. My sister, who has repeatedly stolen from family members, found the collection of cards/money and took them. My mom only wanted the cards back when she realized what happened. My sister denied everything. © jemstar87 / Reddit

• She was my best friend of 7 years, we had literally been through it all together. I moved out of state with my now husband, but she convinced us both to move back to be closer with her, after about a year. We had no real ties to the state we had tried out, so we said let’s go back, she’s basically family. We were all so happy to be reunited; she was over almost every night for dinner, we all laughed and talked and had a blast. Best year of my life.
  Then slowly, she started trying to turn my husband and I against each other. Anytime we had an argument (like any couple does) she would text each of us about how right we were; trying to foster animosity between the two of us. With me, she started talking about how she had a plan b for “us”, that if my husband and I couldn’t make it work, I could move in with her, and we’d live happy lives together.
  With my husband, she started talking about her infertility issues and how she wanted to have a kid just like him, she just needed a sperm donor. This all happened at around the same time, and my husband and I compared texts and figured it out. She wanted to take his sperm, and have a baby with me. When confronted about it, she refused to admit anything and started lashing out at both of us.
  It got to the point where she would show up unannounced, banging on the door, demanding a place in our home. It was so terrifying and panic inducing that we ended up having to move and change our phone numbers. I guess it’s so disturbing because I had never had a friend like her, only to find out that she, well, she cared about me, but in such an unhealthy and scary way. But yeah, that’s my story. Husband and I are great now, btw. © lillylenore / Reddit

Although honesty is a virtue, hiding secrets from loved ones is actually very common. When discovered, family secrets can completely change a person’s view of their loved ones.