You’ve probably concealed some information from your family at one point or another. Whether you lied to Mom and Dad when you were in high school about going to “study” with your friends or you’ve kept something under wraps for years to spare your siblings’ feelings, most of us aren’t 100% honest 100% of the time. But one thing about secrets is that they love finding their way into the light…
Redditors have recently been revealing the darkest family secrets they accidentally uncovered, so we’ve gathered their most disturbing stories below. Good luck getting through these shocking discoveries that turned people’s worlds upside down, pandas, and be sure to upvote the ones that probably should have stayed buried forever!
#1
My great-grandfather sold my grandfather to another family.
atomicgirl78:
My paternal grandfather’s first wife (I won’t repeat what they referred to as but) I think she probably had some mental illness and some other issues and so they ended up getting divorced. He then met his second wife, my grandma, in a tuberculosis ward that they both are admitted to. Now grandpa had three children by his first wife and my grandma had already had one child by her first husband, ,who she divorced because he was an alcoholic. Sooooo after they met and fell in love Grandma said to grandpa “I love you I want to marry you, but I don’t want to raise four children.” My grandfather surrendered his three children to an orphanage! I have seen photos of grandpa with his new family visiting his children at the orphanage. I cannot even imagine what that felt like to those kids. To be completely abandoned by both parents and then to have their dad visit once in a while. WTF. All three of the children died of cancer ages ago. Anecdotal or not but I think there’s a reason for that.
whilewemelt:
My great grandparents lent their second youngest son, my grandfather, to the neighbours to work for food and shelter. He had to walk past his home to and from school, not allowed to come inside. They feared he wouldn’t leave if he did. So he was a slave laborer for the neighbours throughout his childhood…
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#2
My blood Grandparents sold my mother when she was less than 2yrs old to their friend and neighbor because they only wanted boys.
Image source: Remarkable-Age, Alex Johnstone/unsplash
#3
Using 23 and me, my sister found a lost first cousin. Turns out our (deceased) uncle, who had a perfect little family and can do no wrong, had an affair with a co-worker and they had a love child. We got in contact with her. She pressured her mother into admitting the affair. She doesn’t want an open line of communication, though, because her father thinks she’s his.
Image source: firepitt, Andrej Lišakov/unsplash
#4
My great great great Uncle was a horse thief in Ireland and was hanged for stealing a horse.
Image source: Got_Bent, Getty Images/unsplash
#5
My grandpa had an affair on my grandma. He lied to the other woman, like he was rich and stuff. Other woman eventually found everything out and didn’t wanna be with him anymore. My grandpa went to her work, k**led her in front of her coworkers and then k**led himself. She had young children.
Image source: poly_girlie
#6
Was told all my life that my grandfather died in a fire but nobody ever told me he set it.
Image source: PM_ME_KITTEN_TOESIES, Ehsan Habashi/unsplash
#7
We always thought we were the main family and dad’s other family had him on Fridays.
It was only when I start taking an interest in family lines and realise that mum was actually the mistress as we were all younger by at least 10 years.
Image source: crabcancer, Mak/unsplash
#8
My aunt & uncle were married for 30 years but apparently during their first year of marriage she got caught having an affair with a 21 year old. My Uncle caught them together when he got off work early one day. She got pregnant and my Uncle raised the child as his own. I guess that’s why they decided to stay together and work it out. My Aunt had another affair 10 years later but they still stayed married. For some reason they always looked happy. I didn’t know about all this until I was an adult.
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#9
Great grandparents (Grandmother’s inlaws)kidnapped my twin uncles when they were six months old, under the guise of helping my grandmother when she and my aunts (who were still toddlers) had the flu. Grandmother never saw her sons until they were almost adults and my mother, who was born yrs after the kidnapping was in her early teens.
Wasn’t really an accident finding out, my Mum was upfront about it when I asked her if she’d be ok with me doing an Ancestry DNA test (she’s had other very traumatic events happen and I didn’t want to proceed unless she was ok with it , in case something from those events popped up).
Image source: blondebeaker, Getty Images/unsplash
#10
My great great (great?) Grandfather was a doctor who bound a book he wrote in human skin, taken from a patient of his who died (Mary Lynch). UPenn ownes the book.
Image source: ZealCrow, Getty Images/unsplash
#11
I have 2 stories thanks to my mom.
Found out that my brother in laws parents were actually half-brother and sister.
My mom also found out she had a half-sister thanks to my grandfather’s numerous affairs. My mom had never met this sister and only found out when her sister was 40 ( mom was 50 at the time).
My mom also discovered that her father had kept in contact with her for years without my mom knowing. or anyone knowing.
My mom found out when she got an email from the half sister out of the blue.
They met and never knew about each other at all.
Mom let it slip when she was tipsy.
Image source: Psytrancedude99, Getty Images/unsplash
#12
My mom went to the hospital in 1964 to have a baby and came home without one. We were told the baby died. Nope. He was given up for adoption because he was an affair baby and my step dad said he was not raising any more b*****d children (my older brother and I have different dads and they were deadbeat dads so my step dad was already raising 2 b*****d children). My step dad was not a good father either unless you were one of his biological sons that he treated like they were made of gold.
Image source: AmazingAd8987, Getty Images/unsplash
#13
My grandpa had a second family in the 1960’s. He abandoned them when he and his primary family moved to the other side of the US, we think because his wife (my grandma) found out about the affair.
My grandma and grandpa have both been deceased over 20 years now. My mom and her siblings had no idea that they had two bonus half-brothers until my aunt did 23andMe a couple of years ago.
It’s hard to wrap my head around the fact that my seemingly doting grandpa had two kids that he walked out on and never saw or acknowledged for the rest of his life.
Image source: celiacsunshine, Natalia Blauth/unsplash
#14
My grandfather had a child as the result of an affair. I never knew about him until after he had died. My mother told me about him and that he had asked to go to the funeral when my grandfather died and my grandmother refused. To be clear the affair child wasn’t what upset me, the fact that he couldn’t even see his father put to rest did.
Image source: Bigfops, Curated Lifestyle/unsplash
#15
My grandpa’s brother started sleeping with his wife while he was in prison. He didn’t learn about it until his children were adults. He wondered if they were his.
Image source: NurseMorbid
#16
My parents were first cousins because my maternal grandmother slept with my paternal great uncle while her husband was in Korea. All their parents knew my parents were cousins but never stopped them from dating or marrying because if anyone found out it would embarrass my grandmothers socially.
Image source: GothPenguin, Getty Images/unsplash
#17
My uncle, who died in his 40s, was a closeted gay man. I found out because my dad was arguing with someone on Facebook and decided to out his brother as a “I’m not homophobic” defense. My dad doesn’t know I’m in that group.
The secret itself doesn’t shock me. It’s the bonkers way I found out that did.
Image source: TheEggplantRunner, Eduardo Ramos/unsplash
#18
My friends discovered a family secret that even my family didn’t know. I am a junior so I have the exact same name as my dad.
Back in the young days of the internet we would google each other for fun. My buddy was in school across the country and calls me to say I should google myself.
He had found a website of a young woman looking for my father. She knew he was ALSO HER FATHER!
TLDR my dad impregnated a working lady in the Philippines in 1977 and now I have a half sister I’ve never met.
Image source: The-disgracist, Getty Images/unsplash
#19
My uncle is my father. My ‘dad’ never once told me he loved me or showed me affection. I’m 67 now and realizing this has made his treatment of me clear.
Image source: Jammer125, Maria Lupan/unsplash
#20
My dad’s not my real dad. I didn’t get confirmation till after he died so it’s not like he ever knew for sure. He raised me as his mini me. Never once did I ever question if he was my real dad & I was actually his favorite child.🤣
He died when I was 15 and I miss him everyday. He taught me what unconditional love is and honestly is the biggest reason I’m a great stepmom today. I honestly couldn’t care less to meet my biological father, it’s some random guy in Norway that my mom met when on a break from my dad.
To give a quick story as to how great my dad truly was, we grew up dirt poor but my freshman year of high school I wanted to try out for the cheerleading squad. I knew we couldn’t afford it but I wanted to see if I could make it anyways. He gave up smoking cigarettes after 53 years so we could afford it. 🤍.
Image source: Commonfckingsense
#21
My partner’s father:
R***d and molested a teen girl, she had two children by him.
Once these children were approaching puberty, he molests both of them.
He gets married to a woman (my partner’s mother) with two young daughters, he r***es the stepdaughter around age 11.
We don’t know how many more victims there were, as the man died of Alzheimer’s before much of this came out. He was a highly respected psychologist in the 70s and 80s and used the position to threaten anyone who might have spoken out.
Image source: Renbelle, Annie Spratt/unsplash
#22
I have kind of a rabbit hole story. Sorry for how long it is.
When I moved out of the house, I got boxes of my childhood stuff from my mom. I was unpacking my new place and wanted to reminisce (as one does) and while going through my baby things, asked why there was a newspaper article about some random m******r lady mixed in with my baby pictures.
Turns out, my paternal great grandmother hired a hitman to k**l her fourth husband. It was a major story in my home town in the 80’s.
Great Grandma and her husband had a tumultuous relationship (to the point where she had previously shot him during an argument), and she convinced her affair-boyfriend, her daughter (my great aunt), and her daughter’s boyfriend (who was also the brother of HER boyfriend, talk about weird, dating your daughter’s boyfriend’s brother) to hire a hitman. It took two tries on two different days, but I can’t remember exactly why the first attempt failed- Either the shot missed entirely or wasn’t fatal?
Great Grandma and Great Aunt were both convicted of m**der (Grandma, life in prison) accomplice (Aunt, I think 20 years?), but Grandma was ultimately released in the 90s because she was dying of a combination of cancers that made her quality of life “inhumane” (newspaper’s words). I was about a year old, and we apparently spent Christmas together before she died. My great aunt and I were spitting image in her mugshot when I saw it as an adult, and she died over a decade ago from a lifelong struggle with d***s.
My mom thought I might want to know about it one day and saved the articles, since my dad wasn’t around to ask. As you can expect, I immediately decided to do some genealogy research on my own for months to see who these people were and if I could explain their actions.
Learned that the crazy only STARTED with Great Grandma (whose first foray into the spotlight was a knife fight with a neighbor at 17, then making headlines in her small town for a divorce on Monday and a wedding on Tuesday) because my dad’s mother was 25 when he was born… And his father was 16, engaged to a different age-appropriate girl, and in jail for killing a cop. No idea what happened there, but he never served time. And then my own father wasn’t exactly a table with four legs, either.
Luckily, all I got from that side was premature arthritis. Thank God.
Image source: Ok-Sky3043
#23
My cousin didn’t die of SIDS, but a freak accident involving a travel cot while he was being babysat by another family member. My aunt and uncle had to go to court so the death could be ruled an accident. Cannot imagine how painful that whole process would have been.
This happened when I was about 5/6 years old and I only found out last year (over 20 years later) because I googled my grandmothers name after she died to find her online obituary, and her name was mentioned in an article about my cousins death because it happened in our house
Crazy to see court documents and articles involving your family members that you had no idea about. I never thought to question SIDS. No one ever corrected me when I was old enough to know so I always felt s****y that while my grandparents were alive, I didn’t know what they went through losing a grandchild and it happening in their own home. I moved into that house about five years later!!
I’m not entirely sure who was responsible for the kid that night, it was either my nan or one of my aunts. Really sad s**t.
Image source: sashatxts
#24
Never knew why my parents got divorced, just remember them fighting a lot (I was 7). When I was 23 my dad finally opened up and told me it was because my mom had a long-standing affair with my stepdad and when my dad found out and left, she ended up staying with my stepdad.
Pieces really started coming together after I was told this. Most specifically:
1. I remember my stepdad being introduced as a “friend” but we never got any context as to how they met and he was never around when my dad was.
2. my mom would pack us kids up (me, bro, and sis) and we’d go and stay at his apartment when my dad was away. Weird to connect these dots as an adult and realize these weekends was their time to be together.
3. After my dad finally left, my stepdad moved in immediately but was never introduced as a boyfriend, my mom said he was our new school “tutor”. I remember getting really defensive and upset when a friend’s mom referred to him as my mom’s boyfriend…lol
There were other things but he’s been in the picture ever since and it’s all water under the bridge. I definitely think my mom’s actions were selfish and irresponsible, particularly in the aftermath of the divorce and not being forthright about who my stepdad was. I hold no resentment but now that I have a child of my own I can’t ever imagine putting them through that.
Image source: New-Occasion5954
#25
That my parents were actually separated for a year when I was 5 or 6 years old. I didn’t notice my dad wasn’t living with us because he worked from the crack of dawn until the sun set (construction worker). So I never saw him much anyways.
Made me realize how much I want to have a husband who doesn’t work that much someday because imagine your kids not realizing you aren’t living with them for a full year and not finding out until their 30s.
Image source: Ok-Tea1358
#26
My mother and uncle were in an incestuous relationship with each other. Looking back on my childhood, it makes sense why my father hated him so much.
Image source: JuvenileTyto
#27
That I was adopted. Found out at 27.
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#28
My uncle was not biologically my uncle.
My grandmother had a still born son, and in the next hospital bed was a teen mum.
She asked my Nana to take her baby, she told everyone her baby had died, and went back home.
My uncle always knew, but could never find his mum as she didn’t tell anyone.
He tracked her down when she was unwell, and got to spend a few months with her before she died. He also had 3 younger siblings who didn’t know about him.
I’m glad he finally found his bio family before he passed away a few years ago.
Image source: The_Boots_of_Truth
#29
When I was 5 or 6, I walked into the living room to discover my newishly single mother naked on the couch with her boss.
I remember how awkward it was soon after to go to his house and play with his daughter and be greeted by his wife at the door, because I knew what was going on.
I later found documents showing she was married prior to my father as well, something she never mentioned to me growing up. Years later found out that man was my father’s brother.
Wtf lady.
Image source: turquoisestoned
#30
One of my uncles accidentally ran over and killed a kid that had decided to cut in front of the bus he had just gotten off of. He was exonerated and I seem to be the only person (other than my mom and dad) that know about it to this day. Please be careful around buses as people seem to be in a rush to get wherever……
Image source: BenLurken420
#31
My aunt died in the 1970s, years before I was born. The “official” story that I had always heard was that there was a car accident and my aunt drowned in the car whilst her husband survived.
When my grandparents sold their house in 2015, my dad and I were tasked with cleaning the house out. I found a box of letters in my mom’s childhood room, and started going through some of them. One of the letters was from the neighbor of my aunt and her husband, urging my grandparents to go to to the FBI about the “accident” because the neighbors knew with utmost certainty that my aunt’s husband had k**led her, and it wasn’t an accident.
I asked my grandma about it, but she said that the husband’s entire family basically ran the local police force at the time and there was nothing that my grandparents could do about it without causing more issues for themselves, and the neighbors didn’t have definitive proof, so they never pursued it.
Image source: TheBaneofNewHaven
#32
Found out my “uncle” was actually my half-brother. Whole family just nodded like it was normal and I’m sitting there doing math like I’m in a high school exam…
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#33
I took a DNA test 7 years ago on a whim. Found two things.
My maternal grandfather had a kid out of wedlock before he met my grandmother. Not really a surprise as he was in the Navy and I have a photo album of all his girlfriends from that time.
The shocker was that I had a biological father I wasn’t aware of. Mom had lied and sadly passed away years before so I couldn’t ask why.
Met my biological father three years ago. I moved back to the US to be close to him and his family so I could get to know them better. It’s so weird the amount of stuff we all have in common. I have two older brothers and four nieces and two nephews and now a great niece.
I do wish I could find out why Mom didn’t tell me.
Image source: Auferstehen78
#34
How my poor great grandma was able to afford a mink coat during the Grest Depression.
She was a h**ker. Joe Louis bought her the coat after a fight because she was his favorite w***e.
Image source: Playful_Assistance89
#35
I did not accidentally uncover this secret as family told me but they are quite hush hush with this information. Around 2021 or so, my great uncle (grandfather’s brother) was found guilty of r**ing a child and it was soon revealed that he had other victims because he’s had accusations for like 40 years now. So when he was convicted everything came to light and people realized those who accused him were not lying.
That’s not the thing I accidentally uncovered. His daughter (parent’s cousin) came to visit with her family and I decided to hang out with her teenage daughter and show her around town. When we went to go eat, I have no clue what we were talking about but she mentioned how she couldn’t believe her grandpa went to prison for d***s. I was confused and asked her who told her that, and she mentioned other family members close to her had said that was the reason. I told her truth and I noticed she got real quiet. I then asked her if he had done anything to her and she started tearing up saying yes and it happened when she was under the age of 10. My sister (who was with me) and I told her she needs to tell her parents especially because her grandmother was siding with pedophile husband and supports him. I have no clue what came of it as this family lives out of state but I hope she told her mom and dad.
Image source: babystarlette
#36
Great grandma drugged great grandpa with sleeping pills and k**led him with a kitchen knife. Tried to end her own life too, but failed. I still don’t know why and I don’t think I want to.
Image source: a_fine_line_99
#37
My ex father-in-law went to kids’ prison in his teens for m**dering a guy in a fight. That’d be the early 60s I guess. Apparently he didn’t have to k**l him, but he did anyway.
A great-grandparent of mine shot a burglar. The cops came, took a statement, and removed the body. That was pretty much it. No court, no lawyers, nothing. 1940s.
Image source: MardawgNC
#38
My father was married to another woman when I was born and my parents were never together. I remember being at my father’s house as a child and wondering who this woman was and who my father lived with. Later I realized that I was a planned child on my mother’s side so that my mother could make money off of my father.
Image source: jeikkonen
#39
My grandma had 4 kids. My mom the youngest having a different dad. He went to prison for SA the older kids in the mid 70s. they went to live with their dad. My grandma took my mom to visit him, she even remembers walking in on them after his release from prison. He did things to my mom during visits my grandma sent her on. She was only 2 years old so didn’t learn the truth till her teen years what happend to her siblings. He went back to prison for sa on his stepdaughter. She never could understand why my grandma would keep him in her life. Fast forward I do a ancestry test this past April, and find out my moms dad is not at all her dad. My mom was so happy. But her real dad died in 2001, he was a roofer it was a family business. He lost both legs to frost bite about 10 years later him an a close friend were drinking together and his friend tryed forcing him self on him. That started a fight and my bio grandpa stabbed his friend he got off on self defense. That’s it my grandma past in 2022 so no answers but my mom is doing better now after all this life long mess.
Image source: BetLogical6048
#40
My brother (10 yrs older than me) has a daughter I never knew of until 40 years later. He never told any of our family. Confronting him about it, he hasn’t spoken to my mom or I for over 3 years now. His loss.
I got to meet my niece and she’s wonderful! She’s come to visit us a couple times.
This was discovered through the magic of DNA.
Image source: digigyrl
#41
Some of my ancestors emigrated to Austrailia because they got in the wrong line and were too stubborn to get out of line when they realized their mistake…that’s sounds about par for the course in my family.
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#42
I have a few.
Have an aunt that works at the same hospital as her husband. He’s a doctor but works in a different area than her. She found out that he has been sleeping with the nurses in his ward. So she paid a mechanic to cut the brakes on his motorcycle. He crashed while heading to work but didn’t die.
My aunt got pregnant shortly after moving to the states. She decided to settle down with the baby daddy and have him move in with her. Her sister was also living in the same apartment with them. He got the other sister pregnant as well.
…. not so much a family secret.
Image source: Dany_Perkins
#43
My cousin is adopted. My grandma told me shortly before she passed. Confirmed it was true with my mom, who forbade me from telling anyone else. My cousin is in his 50’s now and both his parents are dead. He has a younger brother (about 9 months apart) who was conceived naturally. No clue if they know or if my other set of cousins know. I hate secrets but I can’t betray my mom.
Image source: ZoeySpark
#44
My grandfather m******d a 14 year old girl in the 60s. my mom and grandmother just dropped it super casually like it was something i should have already known back when i was 17. obviously, i hadn’t known.
edit: this was early 2000s.
Image source: FionnaAndCake
#45
My father r***d my mother and stalked her for years until she gave up fighting for custody which is why I was raised by him.
Image source: Honest_Sandwich_7335
#46
My sister decided to do a genealogy test when my mum died (convinced we have some “ethnic” genes, she could pass for half Indian when she tans). Nope, just English Irish and a little Scottish, and a love child my grandad fathered 60 years ago.
Can opened, worms everywhere.
Image source: armsless
#47
My dad spent six months in prison. Never mentioned because it was before any of his children were old enough to remember.
Several generations ago, two ancestors were transported to Australia for sheep stealing.
Image source: Madwife2009
#48
My mom got pregnant as a teen and married my stepdad when I was a toddler. I was aware he met my mom after she had me, but my mom only commented that my biological father was someone she didn’t want to think about anymore, and that was enough for me.
In my twenties I got on Facebook and I was contacted by my biological father, who told me I have a sister. My mother was very upset, and told me he was a*****e and pointed a gun at her when she was pregnant, tried to kidnap me as an infant and stalked her afterwards.
I confronted him, and he told me that my mom threatened to abort me if he wouldn’t marry her. My mom wanted nothing to do with him very shortly after she became pregnant, moved states to go stay with her dad and didn’t put his name on the birth certificate. My mom also has a very apathetic attitude about marriage, she and my stepdad got married on her lunch break for travel reasons and she didn’t even tell anyone, she’s definitely not bridezilla. It didn’t ring true to me at all.
I ended up cutting him off after that, and the half sister as well. Some years later, I learned from his obituary that even though he told me I had one sibling, he was survived by several adult children by different surnames all over the country, but we were the only two he openly acknowledged the existence of. I don’t know what the story is with all that, but he seemed like an overall shady guy.
Image source: Unfair_Ad6620
#49
My uncle was ripping off family friends, old ladies, ladies with cancer – taking their money with the promise of some business he was going to start, with their money and profit “guaranteed”. We only found out because a family friend rang my grandparents because of the missing money. He’d had this whole hidden/double life for years and years. Another house and woman on the side, his wife was blindsided as we all were. He didn’t pay anyone back, went AWOL from family, went on the run, got caught, went to prison, came out and shacked up with one of Britain’s most hated women, Karen Matthews… You should Google her if you don’t know. They’ve broken up now, but for a while he was making up stories about her to sell to the press.
I can’t remember how we found out about the relationship, but talk about wild. Nobody had contact with him for years, then he popped up again, now he’s gone again. I haven’t seen him since 2004.
Image source: anniestandingngai
#50
My grandmother baby-trapped my grandfather (who was a gay man in the closet) by lying about being on the pill. They got married and divorced twice.
He got into a relationship with an a*****e boyfriend. Both of them k**led themselves a year apart from each other and are buried in the same grave.
Image source: Ok_Valuable_9711
#51
Just found out that my mom’s half sister, actually has zero blood relation to my mom at all. (Said aunt also had another half brother, that turns out she’s not related to either. Said brother and my mom were always assumed to have zero relation). They were all raised as siblings though.
Mom and her sister did the 23&me thing and that’s how they found out.
My own full sister wants to do the 23&me thing with me this year. Im scared lol.
Image source: DiscoCombobulator
#52
I was always told my mom’s brother and his wife died in a fire before I was born. What actually happened is that he was an a*****e cheater, and she took the kids and went to a shelter. When she went to retrieve some belongings, he k**led her and started the fire to cover things up, but died as well. Thankfully, my cousins didn’t return with her, so they were safe.
I found out about it when my mom asked me to get some documents from a file folder in her drawer. I read the clipped newspaper article, and then later when I worked up the nerve to ask, the paper was gone and she didn’t know what I was talking about (before Google existed).
When I was in nursing school and we were discussing domestic a***e and resources in the community. That’s how I learned there was a women’s shelter named after my aunt, along with more details about what happened.
Image source: Me_Myself_And_Irie
#53
My grandfather, my mom’s dad, was extremely a*****e toward my mom and grandmother (one of my favorite people to ever exist; R.I.P. grandma). My grandma slept with a gun under her pillow for 20+ years because of him (long after they split up of course).
Circa 1970s or 80s, not sure. He threw my grandma through a wall, literally into the next room.
He would kick or push my mom down the basement stairs and lock her in there for a few days. If my grandma tried to bring her food or anything she’d get beaten mercilessly. So she could only sob outside the door.
Then, when my mom was 12 years old, he r***d her. On Christmas Day. Which is also my grandma’s birthday.
He’s in his late 70s now and still refuses to acknowledge that he did it. He just denies and gaslights her. I will not be upset when he dies. Obviously.
Image source: DoctorBitchcraft
#54
My grandfather, who was EXTREMELY religious, molested a 16 year old girl (who went to the same high school as his children) while he was both the leader of a congregation and the mayor of a small town. When it was found out, he moved his family across the country and nothing charges were ever brought.
He was later so puritanical in his beliefs that he kicked out his own granddaughter for coming home smelling like cigarette smoke.
It completely changed how I looked at him, and it helped me escape from a cult.
Image source: emorrigan
#55
Helping my grandma clean out her attic I found an old shoebox full of love letters… from the mailman. Turns out *everyone* in the family already knew but me. Thanksgiving hits different now.
Image source: Rude_Bat890
#56
My uncle fathered 2 of his brother’s children… 😬🥴🤦🏻♀️.
Image source: Stunning-Ad3377
#57
My dad has a secret half brother who was conceived while grandma was pregnant with his oldest sister.
Image source: fessa_angel
#58
I have a relative, George Burroughs, who was executed for being a warlock in Salem Massachusetts by Cotton Mather in 1692. Not really a secret but it was an odd thing to have revealed at family trivia night.
Image source: Tricky_Ad6844
#59
My father m******d his first wife.
I always knew he had it in him.
Edit: the other side of the family was scarier when I was a kid.
My grandfather on the other side of the family trapped small animals and made his sons skin them alive to “toughen up” the boys.
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#60
When I was a kid, I sometimes wondered why I never met my paternal grandfather. My dad told me very little about him. I happened to look him up when I was 15, and he had died 2 years prior. I was the one who told my dad that his dad had died. No one had notified my dad that his dad died. And that’s not bc of anything my dad did, his dad was just a genuinely terrible person. He had no one in his life that could tell my dad.
Turns out he was a s*x offender, and even assaulted my aunt (my dad’s younger half-sister, but also my grandpa’s biological daughter). My dad even recalls a time where his dad sat on his bed at night and started rubbing on his arms, and when my dad asked him what he was doing, his dad replied “I didn’t realize you were awake. Go back to sleep.” My dad says that he couldn’t go back to sleep, so his dad left. He’s said that he fully believes that if he did go back to sleep, his own father would have violated him.
In his obit it even talks about how he volunteered at children’s hospitals and as children’s coaches for baseball and football. Funny enough, he had 4 children and none were mentioned in the obit. Just how much he helped little kids…
But yeah, I didn’t find any of this out until I happened to look up my dad’s father’s obit at 15. I’m 27 now and I still can’t believe how severely I got trauma dumped on regarding that man. But also good riddance.
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#61
My grandmother had an incestuous relationship with one of her brothers. He broke her heart when he left town as a young adult. She named her youngest son after him. She told me the story once while coming down/during a pretty serious period of withdrawal from a particularly long d**g binge. She got married 6 times, divorced 7, 5 husbands, 3 kids with 3 fathers, and still uses any d***s she can get ahold of.
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#62
My grandpa didn’t die from cancer—at least, not in the way you’d think. He committed s*****e. This makes a lot of sense if you know my family.
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#63
My sister was r***d by one of my classmates. She had a son who most people are 90% sure is his. The classmate ended up dying. My sister had a fiancee who raised the son as his own without question or knowledge. Then my sister died. The boy is technically an orphan but loved by so many and living in a well rounded home with the fiancee’s parents.
I’ve also learned that my uncle and cousin may have been hitmen at one point. The cousin is in prison for unrelated charges, but allegedly the only other person who knew where they hid any of the bodies was said sister. I don’t know the validity of that one. My mom did end up attempting to use his services, failed, and the people she tried to have taken out tried to find her. Dunno if they’re still looking for her.
My family is a mess. The reason I moved two states away.
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#64
9/11 revealed my mom’s affair, which later ended her marriage. Certainly not the greatest loss of the day, but their marriage was definitely done for after that
I found out as an adult, and looking back it fully explains all the “you ruined my life!!” yells and reprimands i received as an elementary schooler, lol.
Low-key validating to learn that i did not in fact ruin her life, she was just dumb and fumbled her bag.
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#65
My great grandfather was married twice. With no divorce in between them and his first wife died decades after. He never travelled for work or anything according to my grandma. Turns out he just up and abandoned his first family. Told everyone they died in a car crash after he moved one state away. I dug into it when I noticed my great grandpa and great grandma were married two states away from us. They never lived in that state and destination weddings were pretty rare back then…
Also for some reason, my grandma was far more ashamed at learning she was conceived out of wedlock. Great gpa knocked up great gma, skipped a few states away to get married to her and then they lived and died one state away from his previous family.
Admittedly, the guy was messed up from what I understand. Grandma said she really only remembers him sitting in his recliner and drinking beers 24/7. He was apparently pretty verbally a*****e and maybe even physically though she was never clear in that. He also witnessed the St. Valentine’s Day m******e as a kid and his family basically moved him around and changed his name repeatedly in a poor man’s version of witness protection to make sure neither the mob nor the police could get their hands on him.
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#66
I recently found out that my great great grandmother had a baby at 15, was married off to a German immigrant at 18, had 3 kids by him and then somehow they separated and she met my great great grandfather
I don’t know details but I’m sure it’s not a happy story.
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#67
Omg I have one, so I went to live with my Grandma and my aunt for some weeks last year because my aunt got sick and my grandma is 96 yrs old, one day we were having lunch, they started to talk about my grandfather, who died some years ago, he was always very drunk and aggressive with my Grandma so I never asked anything about him, but that day they were extra talkative so I started to make questions, and then my aunt said it ” he was in prison for some years!” And I was like wtf? “What for?” Well the guy r*p3d someone before meeting my grandma and since this is Colombia and the justice is a joke and has always been he just got some short period in jail and then he went out and soon after meet my grandma, my grandma also didn’t knew until one day her mother in law told her, Idk how to feel about that, I guess that’s why my mom never wanted to introduce us to him.
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#68
My ex’s brother screwed his older sister and had a kid with her. She lied about it and said it was some kid from school at a party but was too drunk to remember. Also found out they continued doing it well into their 20s till he moved out. 😨😵.
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#69
My grandmother was sold to her husband by her dad at 13. My great grandfather made her clean up the blood from beating her mother to death. She then had a child at 15 and her husband kidnapped my mom and told her her mother died in a car accident. My mom was in for a shock when she went grave hunting and didn’t find her.
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#70
Aunt’s been secretly dating my ex, ew.
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#71
Apparently, my maternal grandmother had an awful relationship with her father. I knew he beat them, but she has never wanted to talk about him, so I suspect he was even more cruel but don’t know for sure. Anyway. I knew he died before my mom was born, but grandma recently confessed to my mom that my grandma’s dad tried to move in with my grandparents, my grandma refused to let him live with them as she had recently gotten married and I believe was pregnant with my mom’s oldest sibling. My great grandpa’s response to not being allowed to move in was to shoot himself a few weeks later, on my grandma’s birthday. His last act of cruelty towards her.
Regardless to say, grandma has ALWAYS been very particular about her birthday being celebrated and surrounded by family.
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#72
My grandmother (mother’s mom) told anyone who’d listen for years my father’s dad was a N**i collaborator.
My parents had no idea until just before she died.
My cousin who was a journalist interviewed her to write a story, and found out. He immediately told my parents.
To add to this, grandma told people I had moved overseas (fact) because I could not live with the shame.
We never found out why she did this, it very much wasn’t true.
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#73
For years, I knew that my great grandfather had 3 separate families. It was never explained until we needed to talk about dividing property. When I was growing up, everyone was equally called grandpa, uncles and aunts etc. In the meeting, all the families lines were neatly written down in one paper. My aunts explained to me that my great grandfather r***d my great grandmother’s younger sister. The third wife was his nurse. So, it is tricky dividing between the first two families because they are related. It is crazy how all the families lived in the same compound.
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#74
When my mum was 15, her mum (my grandma) was out cheating on my granddad with another man. He crashed the car into a bridge and his work tools in the backseat thrusted forward and broke my grandma’s spine. She died in the hospital that night. My mum then had a baby at 16 with a man in his 30s, who has now died of a h****n o******e.
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#75
My great-grandfather was a high ranking SS official.
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#76
My mom got a DNA test and found an adopted family member we didn’t know about. My great grand father groomed his step daughter from toddlerhood, got her pregnant at 15, and told everyone the baby had died. Obvs they also never told anyone the baby was his.
He ended up divorcing his wife and marrying the step daughter shortly after and having several kids with her.
Lo and behold that baby is now a 60ish yr old man that was adopted to another family and has no idea about any of this.
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#77
Pretty small in relation to everything else here, but my grandmother’s brother was an estate agent, and every sale was celebrated with alcohol. Apparently, he was so successful he became an alcoholic, everything went to s**t and he was ostracized from the family and died alone. Also, my parents didn’t tell that grandmother they were divorced for 10 years because she felt it would reflect badly on the family.
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#78
That my great great grandfather was Indian and came over to the UK from the Punjabi. My family had no idea, my great grandmother took the secret to her grave and never told my grandmother! I should add that certain members of my family are a little racist so the news wasn’t well received by everyone. My grandmother had it confirmed by her cousin who had swore not to say anything and India lit up on my ancestry DNA, plus my research had been done well.
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#79
Realizing that my cousin was actually a secret sibling.
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#80
It wasn’t really a secret, but my grandmother’s side of the family was all old school Irish mafia.
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#81
In high school I found out I had a half sister who lived across the country. Basically my whole family knew.
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