14 Parents Who Masterfully Hid Life-Changing Secrets From Their Kids

As children, we often struggle to grasp the complexities of the world and the challenges our parents face. However, as we mature, we gain a deeper understanding of their lives and can even empathize with their decisions. Today, we’re sharing some deeply moving and surprising revelations people discovered about their immediate relatives over time, highlighting that every family has its secrets.

• Me and my siblings grew up poor. Our parents worked tirelessly, always saving where they could. No desserts, no pocket money — that was just how life was. That’s why I was shocked when, on my 18th birthday, they handed me a savings account booklet with my name on it.
  It turned out, they had been quietly saving every spare cent over the years for me to go to college. They had skipped their own luxuries, like new clothes or even vacations, just to give me a head start in life.

• My parents always seemed unusually quiet and sad around my birthday. I thought maybe it was just the stress of throwing a party or reminiscing about how quickly I was growing up. I brushed it off until my 18th birthday, when my mom handed me an old, worn photo album.
  I flipped through the pages and froze when I saw a picture of me as a baby—except it wasn’t just me. There was another baby next to me. My parents explained that I had a twin sister who had passed away from an illness when we were infants. They had kept it a secret because they didn’t want me growing up feeling like something was missing.

• During summer breaks, my mom would make me a sandwich for dinner and send me outside. I was never allowed to come back before 2 a.m. We then suddenly left that town.
  Years later, our next-door neighbor came to see me and told me that I had “the best mother in the world”. She started telling me things that I never noticed as a kid, things I never learned later because mom passed away when I was 13.
  She said that mom had been a card reader and needed the house to be completely empty and quiet for long sessions with her clients. In our one-room space, having me around would have been a distraction, so I had to stay outside.
  Hearing this made me admire my mom even more. I knew she worked long days as a waitress to support me as a single mother, but I had no idea she worked evenings too, all to give me a better life. She’s my hero.

• My mother won $20 million USD in the lottery when I was 3. She said I told her the numbers to choose in her dream. She didn’t save anything for me (college, car, etc.). She mentioned it casually when I was 24, like I’d always known, and it blew my mind. © astrydpoptosis / Reddit

• My dad had a second family in the next province over. He said he worked there half the time, but he actually had a whole other life. I found out in my mid-thirties. © makeupandjustice / Reddit

• Mom just casually mentioned the fact that I have a half-brother out of nowhere one night shortly before I moved out for college. Just totally out of nowhere. Was 100% sure it was a joke at first, but turns out, nope, very serious. Dad apparently had a kid before they got married, so somewhere out there I have a brother I’ve never met. © Bainik / Reddit

• Once I became an adult, my parents finally told me that my dad had blown all the money my family ever had. He stole my entire college fund left for me by my grandfather, in addition to all the family savings, and had taken out first and second mortgages on the house my grandfather had given him for free. He also took out credit cards in my and my mom’s names and ran them up to the tune of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Well over 3 million dollars total, gone. © MagogHaveMercy / Reddit

• My maternal grandmother is a psychic, and it was a family secret until my friend accidentally discovered it and my dad finally told me. That was a weird time after college. © thrashglam / Reddit

• When I was 32, my twin sister began having odd heart issues and had to see a few specialists. Of course, doctor visits like this include a lot of questions about family history.
  It was then that my mom decided to inform us that we were conceived via artificial insemination, and our parents had kept it from us all that time. She knew nothing about our biological father or his health history.
  I was totally blindsided. The next week was full of weird emotions and an odd existential crisis. Since then, it’s been no big deal and a source of a lot of jokes we make now, but it sure was weird to find out as an adult. © beatnikteach / Reddit

• When my aunt came to visit from Australia, I found out that my grandad, before marrying my nan, was married to her sister. Grandad left her for my nan, and my aunt’s mom ended up moving to Australia with her when she was still really young. Then my nan and grandad had about 11 kids. © NathanHavokx / Reddit

• My grandfather was a small business owner who everyone always thought of as extremely frugal due to growing up poor. Later, we found out he spent a significant amount of money on charitable causes and helped many of his employees with financial and, in one case, legal trouble. A positive secret, but it was definitely a secret. © CaimansGalore / Reddit

• My dad told me he worked in California for a whole year, but he was actually stuck in immigration after getting caught smuggling over the Mexican border.
  When he came back, he gave me a bracelet with my name designed on it using a cereal wrapper. It didn’t occur to me that he handmade it in a prison cell with minimal materials until he mentioned it when I was much older. © MeTheErectrician / Reddit

• My mother was a single mother until I was 10 years old. They told me that my biological father died in an accident as soon as I was born.
  When I turned 18, my grandfather on my biological father’s side passed away. At the funeral, I met my other uncles, and that’s when I found out the man had not died. I met my half-siblings and my biological father, and the truth is, that day I realized I was better off not knowing them. © Azryels_Somnia / Reddit

• My dad told me that my mom was committed twice to mental facilities. The first time, her own family committed her and had her there for 3 years. The second time, my dad tried to put her in one in our country (the first one was in her home country), but she got out quickly when she convinced everyone there that my dad was the problem. © Puppet007 / Reddit

Children, with their innocence and carelessness, can say things that leave their parents utterly embarrassed, much like the awkward and sometimes hilarious stories shared here.