“What Horrid Secrets Do Your Parents Have, And Are Oblivious To You Being Aware Of?” (24 Answers)

Not some horrid secret, but I sometimes hear my dad talking behind closed doors to my mom who passed away suddenly years ago. He typically tells her our life updates and that he misses her. My sister got married recently and I overheard him from outside his room telling my mom how beautiful my sister looked and how great her husband is that she never had the chance to meet. About how they had always spoke of that moment, watching their child marry, and he wished she was there with him to see us. We rarely speak about my mom at home, but 14 years later she's still very alive in his heart. It's gut wrenching at times.

My divorced parents are both cheating on their current spouses.

With each other.

When my grandfather passed away he left approx 140k$ american in a trust for me. It wasn't to be touched until after my parents passed away so that it could gain as much money as possible from the investments he had arranged. (My grandfather was an oil tycoon in PA and no one in the family knew it until after he passed away.) I got a call from the bank one day asking how I'd like to handle closing the accounts. I had no idea why, but apparently my parents had been taking medical bills from themselves and altering them to have my name on them. Then submitting them to the bank to be "reimbursed" for paying my medical bills. They had bled the trust completely dry in less than 5 years. They used the money to remodel their home. I don't think I have any recourse. But whatever. Im 35 and I have my own retirement. It just makes me mad that they would steal from me like that.

My dad used to talk about growing up really poor, having to get food from food banks, etc. It’s one of the reasons that now that he owns his own business, he donates to food banks and all sorts of charities all the time. Paying it back.

Well, it turns out that my fathers father owned a massive construction company, and made millions of dollars (in the 50s and 60s). My uncle was selling massive amounts of cocaine, and got busted. My grandfather bankrupted himself paying off judges and lawyers and all that to keep my uncle out of jail for most of his life. That’s why my dad grew up with nothing.

He has no idea that I know.

That my grandma has a picture of my mom. My parents separated when I was like two. My dad told my grandma to get rid of everything about her and we never spoke about her growing up. My grandma showed me the only picture she kept that my dad doesn't know about. It's the only picture of her I've ever seen

Found a naked polaroid of my dad in a box full of tiny lingerie that apparently used to fit my mum.. Kudos to mum, but ugh.

And that's the same day I learnt not to look through other people's s**t..

When my sister and I were kids my dad would sell his valuable football cards and other stuff at pawn shops so he could afford presents for us for Christmas, Easter, etc. (totally not necessary, Dad, but I love you).

When I was a child, we used to be semi-close to my dad's family. My grandparents came up (2+ hour drive) to talk to my parents about an "adult issue" and 10 year old me was told to stay in my room with the door shut. After that, we never spoke to them again, except for one letter that I got from them expressing sympathy when my other grandmother (who I was very close to) passed away. I had no idea what happened.

Years later, I found a cousin on Facebook and we happened to go to the same college, so we met for coffee. I found out that the reason we no longer spoke was because my mom opened a whole bunch of credit cards and racked up a bunch of debt in my grandma's name that she never had any intention of paying back. My cousin and I kept it between us and she has no idea I know.

My partner doesn't know he's adopted. His family doesn't know that I know either

My Mom was kidnapped. I don’t know any details, and it’s never come up. When I found out my Mom’s behavior my entire life completely made sense.

My mom had to do some soul searching for AA. She wrote a list called "life resentments" and Having Kids was the first bullet point. Found it while I was looking for my social security card to apply for my first job at 16... She kept it in a safe

When I was a kid my mom had "mole removal" surgery on her face, and came back and head to recover for weeks. Granted, she did have a mole removed on her face.... But miraculously her A's turned into D's. Crazy how that was a side effect of face surgery.

My mom does not know that I know she has been struggling with depression for years. My dad told me. It amazes me how much she has put up with over the years. Hard s**t even for someone without depression. Funny thing is for the longest time I considered my mom a very chill, happy-go-lucky person who wasn't easily frazzled. This came as a complete shock. I guess she is trying to protect me ? I'm in my mid twenties. It's f**ked up.

That my mom talks s**t about me to my siblings. It wasn't even my siblings that told me either. I overheard her talking to my brother on the phone one night. F**king b***h.

When I was 11, I accompanied my mom to a doctor's appointment. The doctor ran through my mom's medical history, and I heard her say, "and you got an abortion last January?" I was old enough to understand what the term meant (I don't think they thought I was), and honestly it shook me up for a while because I never saw it coming.

My father has a child from an affair fairly early in my parent's relationship. He's a fairly close family friend and I have no idea how no one else has noticed. He's the spitting image of my dad.

Mum and Dad have said bits along the years about the affair. Hey I could be wrong but the timeline fits!

My family has mafia associations.

My mom didn't know she was pregnant until I was born

My parents wanted to separate after I was born due to my dads anxiety and violent temper. I only found out when I read one of my moms old diary and realized my dad wasn’t around when I was 2-3 years.

I want to preface this by saying I was adopted. My dad was 18 and wanted one last romp with my mom (17) before shipping off to the military. This is where I come from. She decided to adopt me out so we could both have ect. He never stopped loving me or thinking about me. I haven't told my adoptive mom I know they hid these, and I may never.

Yes, I know my bio dad. We have met and talked several times. We care about each other, but we don't get along. Mainly because he's a gun toating, God fearing Republican who voted Trump and I'm a liberal feminist (not radfem, but still) who volunteers at PP. Need I say more?

No, I'm not mad at my adoptive parents. I love them very much, and I think my adoptive dad knew somehow that I would be the one to find those. I know my A mom and A dad are good people (A mom is a bit of a narcissist, but that's another story) and that they were thinking of my well being at the time. I don't think it's worth bringing up and starting a fight over because it was a long time ago and - as someone who had never had children - I have no idea what the whole situation was. I'm 31 now. What's done is done.