11 Families Whose Secrets Could Go Viral Overnight

Finding long-buried secrets or overhearing whispered conversations may result in the strong temptation of uncovering concealed truths. Many people in our digital age use the internet to reveal their families' most private secrets. Maybe it's the need for approval, the relief of finally speaking up, or the anonymity that makes sharing easier. Whatever the reason, talking about these personal issues can often feel liberating and relieve the burden of secrecy that has been held for too long.

• I had an uncle who was a railroad engineer and worked the Terre Haute, Indiana to Danville, Illinois line. Never took a day off from his one-day-there, one-day-back route. At his funeral (I was a kid and didn’t go), a strange woman came into the funeral home with some older children. No one knew who she was, and finally, my grandma introduced herself to the woman and asked who she was. The woman said, “I’m Mrs. so and so I’m here for my husband’s funeral.” Turns out my uncle had two families, one in Terre Haute and one in Danville. I didn’t find out about this until I was an adult. My mom, grandma, aunt, and sister kept this a secret for decades. © mildlysceptical22 / Reddit

• My Dad had a “kid sister”. She lived with and took care of my Grandmother until her passing. I found out many, many years later that she was actually the child of my grandfather and a young woman he’d met at a bar. Said young woman later married my Uncle—gotta keep it in the family, I guess and rehabilitated her image by becoming a church lady. It made me respect my Grandmother so much more. My Grandfather left her (probably back in the 40’s) alone with six children, yet she took in his “love child” and raised and loved her as her own. © phussann / Reddit

• My aunt and uncle couldn’t have children, so they had a friend give them her child, and they paid the doctors on the spot to change the names of the parents on the birth certificate so that he would be their child legally without having to go through adoption. It was like he was born to my aunt and uncle, even though he wasn’t. © AmericanBeef10K / Reddit

• The reason my brother and I took my mum's surname instead of my dad's is that when my brother was born, my dad left my mum, and she had no idea he would come back. She was like, "aight, I guess he's my kid then". He came back after 3 months, and they added his surname as a middle name and did the same with me for consistency. The story I'd been told when I was asked is that my mum's surname is higher in the alphabet, so I'd be higher on lists, which is apparently a good thing? Weak explanation. © w***andsteak / Reddit

• I was forbidden by my father not to tell anyone from his side of the family that I am not his biological son. He and my mother were married but separated and got together a few months later, but in that time, my mother had a fling, and I came out of it. He accepted me and never made me feel like not his son. Now, the mother of my biological father, my grandmother, claims that my mother was in an afair with my bio dad long before she divorced my father. © Deshik2 / Reddit

• My uncle got his college girlfriend pregnant—with twins. My grandfather gave him money to marry her, but he abandoned her and signed away all parental rights. The twins reached out to my grandparents after they turned 18 and built a relationship with them.
  I know this because my grandfather told my brother while we were in college. He wanted to make sure someone would let them know when my grandparents passed away.
  My cousins, who I was extremely close to in my youth, have two sisters they know nothing about. © FruityOatyThrace / Reddit

• When my mother was pregnant with me, my dad's father found out he was dying of lung cancer. He had always wanted a grandchild, and I would have been his first. Well, my parents made the decision to not tell him my mother was pregnant with me, and he died without knowing he had a grandchild on the way. I've heard so many wonderful things about my grandfather who never met me, I wish my parents had told him I was on the way. I don't know, what do you all think, should they have told him? © Unknown author / Reddit

• My aunt had an affair with a coworker and got pregnant as a result. My uncle knew about it and chose to raise the child as his own. They’re still together 20 years later and seem to be doing well. © FearTheKeflex / Reddit

• My dad had an affair with my mom’s childhood best friend (my mom knew about this part—they worked through it and later had me). What my mom (or possibly both) doesn’t know is that I have a half-sibling who was placed for adoption.
  They found me through Ancestry. After a quick exchange of medical history, that was that—no further contact was requested. I respect their position and plan to never tell my parents. © b**dywhine8998 / Reddit

• My grandfather was in love with someone in his teens, but things did not work out. He married my grandmother, and the girl he loved married my grandmother's brother. So they all continued to spend many, many decades together as a family. We all grew up knowing them as there would be monster-sized family reunion picnics. When my grandmother died (in her 90s), my grandfather married the love of his life, who had lost her husband (my grandmother's brother) 2 years prior. They lived several years happily until his 2nd wife passed away. He tried for love again and married someone we all detested (a really overbearing, rude woman). She passed away also. At the time, he was 100 years old, so he decided not to go for a 4th wife. :) © ShadesOfCerulean / Reddit

• My great grandparents from both sides of my parents were rich, rich. They owned hectares of land in different places these lands were to be passed down to their children and the next generation. I was happy to know more about them. My father then sighed and revealed that I was supposed to inherit all of those, at least the ones from his side. Because I'm the eldest great-grandchild, it turns out the inheritance automatically goes to the eldest grandkid, but when my father was to inherit it, his uncles and aunts split it for themselves. Some sold parts of the land, resulting in no inheritance for him to take and so do I. Dad added that it wasn't supposed to be sold because the legacy was to let these lands flourish; we're just caretakers of it basically.

Secrets are to be kept, but these people have shared some of the most bizarre secrets they found about their friends. Curious? Check this link.