Infidelity is one of the toughest challenges a marriage can face. It’s even more complicated when children are involved — the ripple effects don’t just touch the parents, they reach every corner of the family.
This one family was shocked to learn that their father had been hiding an entire other family, including a son, for decades.
Sharing the story online, the man’s daughter said the truth only came out after her half-brother reached out for urgent medical help.
Read her story to find out how the family coped with this betrayal.
A woman learned a shocking truth about her father
Image credits: Getty Images / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
Her dad had been hiding an entire secret family, including a son, for decades
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Throwrasecrets27
Image credits: Kampus Production / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The emotional fallout of cheating can last decades
Infidelity can cause deep pain and trauma, and in many cases, it is one of the main reasons couples end up divorcing.
Recent surveys show about 20%–25% of divorces in the US are directly caused by a spouse’s infidelity.
There are several reasons a person cheats on their spouse — low self-esteem, lack of satisfaction, feeling emotionally disconnected, unresolved resentment, even boredom.
And in some cases, infidelity is less about circumstance and more about the character of the person cheating.
When someone chooses their own desires over the well-being of their partner and children, the damage often extends far beyond the marriage itself.
Children in families affected by infidelity are often hit the hardest.
According to a study, around 75% of children said they felt betrayed by the parent who cheated. For about 80%, it changed the way they think about romance and relationships. And nearly 70% said it affected how much they trust people in general.
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Family secrets leave emotional wounds on children
Psychologists say a betrayal from a parent can feel worse than from anyone else since our parents are supposed to guide us and protect us.
When they hide a secret, like a second family, it shakes the very foundation of everything we believed about them.
“Our parents are ideally the ones who are wiser, stronger and calmer than us. We expect them to tell us the truth, to model behavior they expect from us, to be there for us no matter what, and to be dependable,” says Carly Dober, principal psychologist at Enriching Lives Psychology.
“The pain of family betrayal often feels personal and devastating due to the behavior violating these assumptions. People will find themselves poring over their shared histories, wondering if it was all a lie, if the love was there, and wondering how their parent could keep this from them.”
This Reddit story is a reminder that infidelity doesn’t just affect couples, it reshapes entire families. The woman’s parents ended up getting divorced, and she and her siblings stopped talking to their dad after the lies were exposed.
In this case, the damage went every which way. The man hurt the family he married into. But he also hurt the one he kept in the shadows by forcing them to stay quiet about their existence. So much so that he didn’t even care about his grandson’s medical condition.
While the betrayal cannot be undone, what happens next still matters.
Some families choose distance, others choose connection. In this story, even amid anger and divorce, the siblings chose to get to know one another and build a relationship of their own.
The woman gave more updates about the new family
Many people expressed anger towards the woman's dad
Some people shared similar stories and experiences
The story didn't end there. The woman came back 2.5 years later with a major update
Image credits: Pavel Danilyuk / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Kampus Production / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Throwrasecrets27
Several readers expressed support for the woman and her family
