"No One In My Family Knows There Was A Time I Was Pregnant": People Are Sharing The Secrets They Never Told Their Parents
Note: This post mentions allegations of child sexual abuse and sexual assault.
Recently, I asked the Buzzfeed Community to tell me the most shocking secrets they've never shared with their parents. The results got real, really quick:
1."I was reprimanded by my mother when she asked me at 15 if I was still a virgin and I answered honestly. Later as an adult, she'd sneak in comments about how my older sisters lost their virginity to their husbands who they married in their mid 20's. They lost their virginity as teenagers, too, but I never ratted them out. I just laughed inside."
2."Three months after my dad passed away, a new relative I didn't recognize showed up on 23&Me. After talking to this relative's grandparents, I figured out I have a half-brother 22 days younger than me. This brother like me was conceived before my parents married. My parents were happily married for over 32 years and my dad had a history of cheating in his prior marriages, but as far as I know otherwise, he didn't do anything suspicious and I believe he was faithful to my mom. That still doesn't take away the fact my mom has no idea and I'm taking my brother's existence to the grave. My parents were best friends and soulmates and I don't want my mom to change her outlook on dad because of one bad moment over three decades ago. All of this is just as well because the brother doesn't want anything to do with me when I've reached out."
—34, Florida
3."When I was 12 it was the last day of sixth grade. My friends pressured me into sneaking into the nearby grocery store an hour before school started. I was so scared because my parents said to never go there and my dad was supposed to head to work in his truck. They never found out but that day I jumped at every truck I saw."
4."No one in my family knows there was a time I was pregnant. I had made an appointment to terminate the pregnancy but had a miscarriage instead. We were using birth control, but it (obviously) failed. I never wanted children, so it worked out for the best."
5."I was molested by my older brother regularly growing up. My parents know he's a pedophile, as he later got arrested and imprisoned for downloading child pornography. My mum asked if he had ever done anything to me. I saw how hard it was for her to ask that question, and said no. She'll never know."
—43, UK
6."It's not juicy, and my mom probably always knew, but TWAS I WHO CAUSED THE DEEP SCRAPE DOWN THE ENTIRE PASSENGER SIDE OF THE FAMILY TOYOTA RAV4!!!!!!!!!!"
7."I got a DUI in 2016, in the upward slope of my alcohol addiction. Still didn’t stop me from drinking (at that time). I’m supposed to be 'the smart one/good head on her shoulders/etc.' and it would kill my grandfather if he knew. Got it taken care of, did my time, and got sober. Sober 3 years 22 days and I NEVER want to go back. Congrats to anybody else who is sober! Anyone who slipped: you got this. I’m proud of you!"
—34, Tennessee
8."I went to jail in Las Vegas. ‘nuff said."
—35, Canada
9."My brother molested me when we were teenagers. I believed him when he told me he would tell them terrible lies about me if I didn't go along with it. I thought they would believe him since they thought my brothers could do no wrong. I wish I had been a confident enough person to tell him to go to hell. I alluded to it in my mother's last years but wouldn't tell her. I told her she should trust me that I had a good reason why I hated him. He did apologize to me as an adult but I still can't stand him for this and a lot of other reasons."
—69, California
10."I was raped by a former colleague/mentor. I never told my father out of fear that it would break his heart."
—31, Wisconsin
11."Occasionally during TV time, I’ll be on my phone and sometimes I just get so horny, so under my blanket I’ll touch myself and watch some stuff on my phone. I’ve mastered keeping my face completely straight. My family has never found out. They’re so focused on the TV or their phones. For the record, I’m an adult and no, I do not ever think of them in that way, I just need to release and am too impatient to wait."
—27, US
12."When I was about 14 years old, I sold a weekly paper (The Grit). If my customers didn’t buy all my papers I’d go down to the grocery store and hawk them there. One day an older male teen wanted to ‘tell me a secret’ but I couldn’t tell anyone. I widened my eyes and said 'But I tell my mom everything.; Strangely enough, after that he didn’t try to tell me anything. Ironically, I did tell my mom everything but I never told her about this. Another secret I kept was on a different day, while I was selling papers some man tried to lure me into his truck but I refused and walked off."
—62, Indiana
13."I have a 5-year-old daughter."
—20, California
14."I grew up thinking that I was conceived using artificial insemination and a surrogate mom. My mom was 50 when my dad and her got together and she was too old to have kids so she asked her grown daughter to be a surrogate. I was told this sorry my whole life, including how they used a turkey baster. In 9th grade biology, we learned about genes and I remember asking why I have brown eyes if my birth mom has blue and my dad has green. Turns out the artificial insemination hadn't been working, so they took a break from it. My birth mom wasn't supposed to be with anyone but she had a one-night stand and got pregnant and asked my parents if they still wanted a baby. They said yep. My mom then told me I can never tell my dad that I know about this. She said it would crush him. So now here I am almost 37 and my dad still doesn't know I know he isn't my dad."
—37, Florida
15."That I’m gay"
—34, USA
16."I’ve never told my elderly parents that their beloved granddaughter (my daughter) is asexual. They wouldn’t understand and would just make a huge deal about it. What they don’t know won’t hurt them, anyway!"
—52, Arizona
17."I’ve had an abortion in my early 20’s because I didn’t know who the father was and my boyfriend at the time beat the shit out of me and threatened me with a knife if I didn’t get the abortion. I still regret it to this day."
—38, North Carolina
18."The real reason I'm not 'giving; them grandchildren is because I get psychotic when I lose too much sleep. I would shake a baby to death. (And to all of you out there who claim it's different when it's your own, screw you. How about not putting an infant in such horrid circumstances in the first place.)"
—30, Montana
19."Gave myself a tattoo at 13, just a smiley face."
—34, Colorado
Do you have something that you've never ever told your parents? Join the confession train and share below!
