21 Wild, Wild, Wilddddd Family Secrets That Folks Have Kept Hidden (Until Now)
We wrote a post about some of the wildest secrets people discovered about their families, and oh lordy, were they juicy.
So much so that they inspired our BuzzFeed Community to share some of their own.
Here are the shocking things they had to say:
Note: This post contains subjects of domestic violence. Please proceed with caution.
1."In the '80s when my mom and dad separated, he would pick me up on the weekends to stay with him. One Sunday when he was bringing me back home, my mom (unprovoked) stabbed my father in the chest. As he lay dying in the hallway, someone called an ambulance. After being in a coma for a week, he miraculously woke up. The hospital was telling my grandma to prepare themselves for his death. When the police came and questioned my dad, he lied and said he had no idea who did it. Even though she almost killed him, he didn't want to see her go to prison. To this day, no one else in the family knows that my mom almost committed murder except for me and them. I was the only witness to the stabbing."
2."I discovered in my fifties that my father had slept with basically every woman he ever knew, like my aunt on mother’s side, all of our female neighbors everywhere, the lady who did the ironing when my mother was in the hospital (I might have a half-sibling), and so on. It's truly disturbing that nobody once respected my mother enough because every single last one of them knew he was married and knew my mother."
3."My parents wrote my brother out of their will and told me about it. I told them to write me out, too, because there’s no way I’d participate in something that would be so hurtful to someone. I said anything they left me I’d give to him if he wasn’t in it, and he’d never know they wrote him out (but their shame was already in the open with me). They changed their minds and included him, but sadly, my brother passed away. He never knew any of this, and he never would have — I would have taken it to my grave. Coincidentally, just two weeks before he died, my brother shared quite a few things with me that he assumed he’d take to his grave. So if you have things to share with others, don’t wait."
4."In high school, my cousin slept around on her boyfriend too much. She ended up getting pregnant by someone else who didn't want the baby or anything to do with her (he's in prison now). She ended up marrying her boyfriend, and they had two daughters together. They waited until the oldest kid was 18, and her dad broke it to her that he wasn't her real father. It was a double whammy of him not being her dad and him being the dad of her two sisters. She ended up running away from home later that week with some 18-year-old guy who just joined the Army. It sounds like she found her footing later in life, but we don't really talk — I only talk with the other two. They just say she's doing 'well enough,' and I leave it alone."
5."I was visiting my mom because we both had a dentist appointment around the same time, so we went to go get lunch after. We were sitting in an A&W restaurant, and my mom told me that I should marry rich. She had been telling me that since I was a child. I started talking about how my friends were convinced that I was going to end up having a 'sugar daddy' because I was into older men. My mom looked at me and said, 'Find a man who's near his death and get him to write you into his will — don't do the whole 'sugar daddy' thing. It was weird. I did it.' I just shrugged it off and then realized what she said!"
6."I lived with my in-laws for a few years in a different province than my own. It started great, and we agreed to split the bills 50/50. But then my partner had to pay for their TV and phone bills, and then I paid for all their groceries and dog food. The final straw was after a meager Christmas between my partner and me. They had spent over $100 on each other, and they demanded that I pay the entire month's rent and all of the other additional payments I was making. I couldn't leave because they kept taking all the money I tried saving up. I put my foot down and refused and cut them off of any financial aid, and with the help of my family, I bought a plane ticket and put a down payment on a house far away from them."
"During the months leading up to me leaving, I poured out their bottles of shampoo, laundry soap, and toothpaste. I even started to throw out my mother-in-law's makeup discretely so they would think that they were using too much of it all, and have to pay for more stuff.
It was a petty revenge plan of making them spend close to what I felt like I had to since I had to buy shampoo for both me and everyone else. I'm older, and I regret doing all the petty acts to them, but I'll never forgive them for the years they set me back financially."
—Anonymous
7."I am 43 and recently found out that my grandfather (who passed away before I was born) was in prison when he was 16 for killing his father. There were reports of child and spouse abuse and alcoholism. My family looked at it as if he was protecting his siblings. When he got out of prison he met my grandmother, and they had 11 children who were protected until his death."
8."When I was 18, my mom told me that my dad cheated on her with this woman named Kathy. I actually remembered Kathy when I was kid because my dad would take my brother and I to her house. She would buy us computer games and stuff, so we loved her at the time. I never understood why my mom hated her until I was older. Kathy ended up marrying my dad's best friend. As an adult, I was never nice to her, and my dad would give me shit about it. I finally told him that I knew about her and that mom had told me everything. He just said, 'Oh, alright then.' He never gave me shit again."
9."After my mom died, I found out I was conceived by a sperm donor. She never told me. My dad (not bio) hasn’t found out that I know — it’s still technically a secret. I couldn’t care less about who my bio dad is because my real dad raised me, and I love him for all the little stuff. I’ll never tell him I know because it doesn’t really matter — so, it’s a tough situation."
10."I was pissed off at my whole family (all five of them). I was in charge of making dinner that night. I don't remember the meal that I made, but being pissed off with my family, I decided to get back at everyone and put my boogers in the meal. No one knew, and my mom said I did exceptionally well in my cooking. I even ate the meal as well, so as not to make anyone suspect anything was wrong."
—Anonymous
11."My mom told me that her mom’s parents (my great-grandparents) were first cousins. They met by chance after immigrating to the US and discovered they were first cousins. This was around 1935, so marrying your cousin really wasn’t something people did anymore, but they got married anyway..."
12."When I was young, I was best friends with a girl who lived in my estate a few doors down. We moved when I was about 10, and I didn't see her again. When I was 18, shortly after my violent and abusive father left and moved to Asia (we are thankfully estranged now), I found out that while we lived in that estate, my father had an affair with a neighbor and the girl who was my best friend was actually my half-sister. It was mindblowing. My mom was aware, which was hard to grasp, as that must have been very hard for her. I found the girl on Facebook a while back, but I haven't had the courage to reach out to her."
13."My godmother let it slip that my grandmother only lent my parents money for the down payment on their house if they got rid of their dog. I was always told that she was hyper, and they didn't want her destroying the new house, so they rehomed her. I was pissed when I found out. I don't remember her (I was two and a half when we moved), but she was always by my side. I always wanted a pet other than a damn fish."
14."I was upset at my mother because I had gotten bed bugs after a sleepover at a school friend's house. She told me it was from not keeping my room clean. So, I took some of the bed bugs and put them in her sheets. She had to buy a whole new bed frame, mattress, and sheets after the bed bugs spread. I feel awful, and we have a great relationship now, but I don't think she would ever forgive me for giving her bed bugs."
—Anonymous
15."When I was researching about my own adoption, I found out my aunt gave up a child while my mom was in college (unbeknownst to everyone else in the family). I'm the only one who knows. As much as I believe adoptions should be discussed, it's simply not my secret to tell."
16."My shame is that my 30-year-old daughter found out through ancestry that my ex-husband was not her father when she matched with her biological father’s aunt. I swear I didn’t know and only vaguely remember having sex with said bio dad. In my defense, I was 16. It was a few hard conversations that had to happen, and she says she’s not angry but relieved to know, as she always says she 'felt different.'"
17."When I was young, I always looked up to my older brother. We are kids from WWII parents, and my brother served in Vietnam — so they were heroes to me. I was young and needed a haircut because I had an interview for a company that I badly wanted to be a part of. So, my older brother said he knew someone who could fix me up. I followed him to an apartment complex where I met this beautiful blonde woman who greeted me with a smile and a hug. I must say she was probably one of the most beautiful women from my childhood. My brother entered the kitchen and introduced her to me formally. And, at that moment, I knew my brother was cheating on my sister-in-law."
"Speed it up to a few days ago. My brother is on his deathbed and is being given his last rights (we're Catholic), and my sister-in-law is there by his bedside. He confesses to his infidelity, and she as well.
Later, as we were leaving, she asked me if I knew if my brother had cheated on her. This I will take to my grave. I never said a word."
—Anonymous
18."This was a secret kept from me and my brother. My maternal grandmother died when I was in the fourth grade, and I remember always asking about WWII (she lived in the Netherlands and then immigrated to Canada afterward with my mom, aunts, uncles, and grandfather). I grew up with the knowledge that my grandfather hid Jewish people in the attic of their bakery during the Holocaust. He never told my grandmother because he knew that she wouldn’t have been able to lie to the Nazis if she were to open the door and they were there. It was a source of pride for me."
"Cut to a few short years ago when the truth came out: he was hiding something from the Nazis, but it wasn’t people. He was hiding weapons for The Dutch Resistance."
19."As a teen, I was shopping with my older sister (she's five years older than me) at Walmart one day, and she was looking for box a for storage. I pointed out a few to her that were all too small (according to her). She found a plastic Tupperware-type box and checked out. Fast forward a few weeks. I’m cleaning the bathroom and opened a closet where that box was inside, with a hand towel wrapped around something. I open the box and see massive dildos. I knew for a fact my sister had never had sex before. Grossed out, I put the box back. Next, I moved to the shower to continue cleaning. I pulled back the curtain and saw another massive dildo just chilling in the corner. The bathroom cleaning ended, and I made my exit, never saying a word to her. I knew she’d be mortified, and she is very sensitive, so it wasn’t worth hurting her feelings."
—Anonymous
20."My grandmother had two different men living with her at the same time. One stayed in the main room upstairs with her while the other man stayed in the basement. On weekends they would all drink and play cards along with other friends (this was in the '90s!). I was a little kid at the time and called both guys 'uncle' and 'Mr.' (respectively). I didn't know they were both her boyfriends until I was an adult."
21.And finally, "I'm sure I'm not the only '70s kid who found this out, but my mom revealed her and my dad had an 'open marriage.' The kind where he said: 'I'm going to fuck other women, and you can fuck these friends of mine — let me have my fun, or I'm out of here,.' Apparently what followed was three bad years together, as my dad tried to convince my mom to participate in swinging, orgies, a poly relationship — the works. And my mom, who was barely 22 with two babies, went along with all of it to keep him happy and 'save their marriage.'"
"It also explains why I was confused that my dad came home with random women. I thought they were my mom's friends, but they really, really weren't."
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
