I found out when he showed up with gifts shortly after I had moved out on my own. He had hired a PI after my mom refused to give him my contact info. He apologized for not being in my life and cried while telling me he was dying and didn’t want to go without meeting me.

I asked my mom about it, and she told me she told him that so she could get money from him after she left my dad. DNA tests confirmed he was not my dad. I only ever met him the one time.

I took the gifts because it was such a surreal experience, I didn’t know how to tell him anything other than that I forgave him. My mom is the only other person who knows this happened. © Brilliant_Succotash1 / Reddit

Story 5

My dad is very middle-class, runs his own business, and is a stand-up kind of guy…
Until I found out that he spent some years in prison a few decades back.

He worked as a pharmaceutical rep, stole the meds from his employer, and sold them to the chemists for knock-down prices. Thought that was bad? That’s nothing…
I found out about 14 months ago that he’d stolen £40,000 from me and my brother.

© abittooshort / Reddit

Story 6

I discovered a friend of mine is insanely rich. We grew up together, and then we lost touch. When we ran into each other again, we just started hanging out like normal—regular bars, regular restaurants, etc.

Then we were talking about looking for jobs, and he said he had found a couple, but nothing he wanted. I was surprised because I knew he had been out of work for a while. So I asked, and he told me how much money he had.

I was shocked but found it really cool how he hasn’t changed at all because of it. © Unknown author / Reddit

Story 7

My uncle got his college girlfriend pregnant with twins. My grandfather gave him money to marry her, but he abandoned her and signed away all rights.

The twins reached out to my grandparents after they turned 18 and built a relationship with them. I know because my grandfather told my brother while we were in college. He wanted to make sure someone would let them know when my grandparents passed away.

My cousins, who I was extremely close to in my youth, have two sisters they know nothing about. © FruityOatyThrace / Reddit

Story 8

I discovered that my boyfriend was married with a son. I found a box of his wedding photos, and he tried to tell me that he, the groom, holding the bride, was just the best man.

I took the train home immediately. He was also not 21; he was 30. © ConsistentAd3146 / Reddit

Story 9

My grandma was raised in an orphanage under the pretext that she lost both her parents and siblings during the Spanish Influenza.

It turns out she and her dad survived, but her dad didn’t want to take care of her, so he left her at an orphanage, moved to Europe, and started a new family. © Human_Commercial_406 / Reddit

Story 10

I found out two years ago, at the age of 34, that my dad had a secret family and I have an older half-sister. Then I found out that he tried to name me her exact first and middle name before I was born.

He pushed very hard to name me her name, and that was their plan at first, but thankfully my mom changed her mind at the last minute for an unknown reason. © Flourpower6 / Reddit

Story 11

I got a boyfriend in 6th grade—the cutest boy in the class. I told my mom his name, and she freaked out!

Come to find out, his dad had a brief thing with my aunt (my mom’s sister), and my aunt’s oldest daughter was actually my little boyfriend’s half-sister. My cousin doesn’t know, and how on EARTH did a 6th-grade me keep that secret?? I went to school the next day and told poor Jeremy I didn’t like him anymore.

© Peckish_Alystar / Reddit

Story 12

My dad had a daughter before I was born and never admitted it to anyone in the family. He was basically on his deathbed when he admitted it to me. I was able to track down my half-sister a few years back, and we were supposed to meet, but she was very emotional about the whole thing and backed out at the last minute.

I have since left her alone. © Hamfiter / Reddit

Story 13

My boss’s father was an oil and gas engineer who traveled the world for decades for work, while the kids grew up in his hometown. His family thought of him as a quiet, introverted man who spent his life earning a living for his family.

When he passed, my boss went through his stuff and found evidence of dozens of affairs all over the world. © Kingslayer84 / Reddit