“Imagine finding out you aren’t an only child in your forties.”

I'm a Senior Staff Writer based in New York City, where I've been covering classic BuzzFeed-style content since 2020.

"She had gotten pregnant with me when she was 17, by her then-boyfriend who was 19. Turned out the guy was seeing other women at the time, and dumped her, so she never told him she was pregnant. When she finally told her mom, (my grandmother ) who was also pregnant with her youngest, and due at the same time, they decided they would give birth together, and my grandmother would raise both babies as twins to save face. They were a very religious family."

"He just made the decision that I would be better off without her and she didn’t care to fight it, so he lied to me for most of my life. It would have been nice to know my family, especially my siblings. I was raised as an only child with no real extended family and as much as I would love a close relationship more than anything, we’re not all close. They’re all grown and have their own life, and their own life together that I’m not really a part of and it stings. One of my siblings is my absolute favorite person in the world and we are close, but I barely know the others and it breaks my heart. I know she could have tried to see me or build a relationship and he was doing what he thought was best to protect me (he was sort of right…) but he’s gone now and so is the majority of my family so it hurts being alone knowing that I have immediate family out there."

"Thankfully the DNA test I took showed I wasn’t, but it was a frightening possibility. I was an adult when I learned of this, and a number of other things. But this one was the most shocking. He was an Army veteran from the Vietnam War, and was 'honorably' discharged the year I was born. Come to find out, he was forced to retire because the Army found out about the charges against him. The only reason I found out was because I was renting a property to him and he was preparing to move to another town. He was drunk and was talking to me about being worried about not being able to move. When I asked why, he just bluntly said, 'Because I’m a registered sex offender. I was in jail for two years after you were born because I was having sex with your mother.' To say I was shocked was an understatement. This was a man I regularly had let watch my two boys, that I had the utmost respect for. And to make matters worse, that meant the state Child Protective Services, knowing he was a sex offender, placed me in his home as a preteen. My mother confirmed the story, and admitted it was consensual (yuck), and after the DNA test was clear, I cut the entire family out for keeping me in the dark. The sad thing is, that wasn’t the only revelation that night. Come to find out, he had been sleeping with my ex-wife before he got with the woman he was moving in with."

"It turned out that there was a special school/rehab out there she asked to go to, but I wasn’t told this until many years later…I can see why they wouldn’t want to tell a kid but the only thing I saw was my sister fighting with my dad and then her being sent away. I’m not upset with my parents or anything but I would have liked to have known the truth so I didn’t fear getting sent away any time I got into trouble."

"My mother passed away a few years later without ever contacting us again and we each received a copy of a new will stating that my sister and I were disinherited. I feel like my whole life was based on a lie."

"Seems my father wasn’t such a nice guy, had multiple wives, none of whom he treated well, which is why my mother was so hurt and decided to cut all ties with my father. I suppose this is why she kept my siblings a mystery. Imagine finding out you aren’t an only child in your forties."

"Two came and a few of the guys went into the rooms with them, even my brother. One of the friends missed this opportunity and was upset so he ordered two more sex workers. A total of seven sex workers came to the house throughout the night. My cousin was so shocked with this that he ended up leaving. My brother was worried he would snitch so he and a few friends left the Bachelor party very late into the night in a car to find my cousin, and yes they were under the influence. My cousin went home safely and my brother contacted him first thing in the morning and asked him if he remembered anything from last night; of course, he said no as he was scared of potential threats. My brother called him a few times to make sure he wouldn't say anything and that it would be a big problem for my cousin if he did. My cousin obviously told me right away and I confirmed it with another friend who ended up staying there but didn't partake in the activities. 

Since then I have lost all respect for my brother but I still keep in touch with him out of familial obligations. I was never that disgusted or horrified of someone's choices until then. His poor wife doesn't know to this day. To make things worse, one of his friends had a bachelor party and the same thing happened again that my brother took part in while married. I never looked at him the same way again."

"My brother said after my birth in the hospital, my mom handed me to who I call Dad and said 'Here is your daughter.' Did I also tell you my biological father was my Dad’s boss at the time? I learned that twist too. I’m in my 40s now and always knew myself to have the best Dad ever. We’re very close and I am grateful for this sequence of events. Bless him for loving and treating me as his own anyway, knowing my mom purposefully aborted his. But wow, that’s just cold. I know my biological father to be an abusive sociopath and my mom is a vain, self-absorbed controlling narcissist, so unfortunately I can’t say I’m surprised by this. But I do like to think my mom knew she was giving he and I a better life by appointing him as my dad. Funny enough, he and my mom did eventually get married and are still together."

"She ran to him in tears and told him she would understand if he did not want to marry a bastard, he said nonsense nothing your sister says is going to stop this marriage. This drama echoed down through the next three generations of the family. That same great-great-grandfather who impregnated his stepdaughter emotionally abused the half-sister and neglected her while showering my great-grandmother with his total devotion. He caused the sisters to be rivals for his attention, rather than normal sisters growing up in the same home. He hurt his children through both actions and inaction. My dad and aunt didn't learn the truth of their grandmother until they were in their early twenties and grandpa's older sister told my aunt the truth resulting in grandpa going into a red-faced rage yelling at her. So many lies causing so much drama across three generations of the family. Family secrets can metastasize like cancer if not removed."

Submissions have been edited for length/clarity.