January 16, 2020 • 8 mins
In this bonus episode we hear from listeners in the Family Secrets community. To share your secret, call 1-888-SECRET-0. This month, Dani’s taking Family Secrets on the road. To get your tickets, visit danishapiro.com.
Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Family Secrets is a production of I Heart Radio. This January,
Danny's taking Family Secrets on the road. To get your tickets,
visit Danny Shapiro dot com. I'm Danny Shapiro and this
is Family Secrets, the secrets that are kept from us,
(00:23):
the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we
keep from ourselves. I've heard from so many about your
own family secrets and realize that what we are creating
for each other on this podcast is a community, a
community for those who are looking for a safe and
supportive space to unburden themselves. To that end, we've created
(00:44):
a number for listeners to call in to record stories
to share here in this space. This week, I'd like
to share a few of those stories from our community.
Thanks for listening. Hi, Danny, Um, I am calling from Ohio. UM.
I am sixty years old, just turned sixty. All of
(01:07):
my life I felt as though I did not look
like um. My birth certificate fathers like him or his family.
And I'm eight years apart from my brother and six
years apart from my sister in age. So I had
questioned that all my life. I in Christmas of eighteen,
(01:29):
I took it ancestry DNA tests and discovered that my truth,
my feelings were actually truth. UM, that my who I
knew as my father all my life was not my father.
I actually found through then getting a DNA detective to
(01:51):
help me research it, that I have a half sister
and a half niece in California, UM, and I was
given contact information. I contacted her. She knew all about me. UM.
It was very emotional for me hearing someone say, you're
my sister. I've known about you since I was sixteen,
(02:11):
so I am two years older than her I would
have been eighteen. UM. So I'm still trying to wrap
my head around how all these people knew about me
and no one told me, No one slipped ever, and
everyone is deceased now, my parents, UM, my real father, everyone.
(02:33):
So I have one elderly cousin to my birth father
that has been extremely helpful showing me photos and telling
me stories of my father, my birth father. So it's
it's been a struggle, a long journey and of an
emotional roller coaster. And my story goes a lot deeper
(02:54):
than that. I have love letters my mother wrote. My
half sister provided me with stacks of love letters she
wrote during her pregnancy with me, which gave me some
of the answers to what went on, but still left
me with more questions. I just wanted to share that,
and UM, I thank you for listening. Ye him. My
(03:19):
secret is that I was dating someone on Tinder and
I got pregnant and I had his day. Um. But
the real secret is I actually don't know who the
father is. UM. And this was really really difficult for
(03:45):
me to expressed to my family. I am from a
Muslim family, in a practicing Muslim family, and so for
me to even be pregnant, uh, with anybody's child is
like a shock anybody's child out of marriage. UM. For
(04:07):
me to be pregnant with someone's child who I was
seeing on Tinder is something they probably couldn't have handled.
So I basically told them a lie about me needing
someone I had to like. I kind of got married
to them, we eloped pregnant. I don't think they believe
(04:29):
it to this day, but UM, that's kind of the
story that I was I was feeling comfortable telling them. UM.
If they ever found out that I actually don't know
who the father is, I think that they would just
be mind boggle. Mind. Boggle is the word that comes
to my mind. Um. But it happened, and it happens.
(04:53):
It happens, um, not just in my face, it happens everybody,
like all around the world. Where you make certain decisions
in your life, UM, and you then decide what you're
going to do with those decisions. UM. And so I
chose to have the baby, UM. And I am so glad,
(05:17):
so glad that I had my child. I just adore him,
I love him to it. I don't know yet how
I'm going to break it to him that I don't
know who the father is. But I'll cross that bridge
when I get to it. Hey, Danny, I found out
(05:39):
one of our family's secrets about twenty years ago. UM.
I was married at the time and having a hard
time conceiving a child myself. And around the same time,
my sister was going through a hard time and I
haven't to speak to her childhood friend whom I have
not had not talked to and cry a long while.
(06:01):
And she, in the course of conversation, mentioned something about
having when she was there for my sister's um last
child when her last child was born, and I mentioned
my nephew's name, and she kind of realized that I
didn't know, but she went ahead and told me that no,
she meant her third child and must only have two.
(06:24):
And I learned that she had found out she was
pregnant while she was in between marriages, and it was
too far along to make any other decision than to
have the child and give it up for adoption. Of course,
I was hurt that she hadn't thought of me, knowing
that that I so desperately wanted a child, But the
(06:47):
friend explained to me that she had thought of that.
I thought it would be too difficult to have this
child be so ever present in her life, so instead
she chose to um because it maybe up to her
friend's cousin. To this day, I have never talked about
it to anyone in my family. I don't know if
(07:09):
my sister knows that I know. I don't know if
my mom or my dad had known, or I have
no idea. UM. Maybe one day I'll get up courage
to actually ask her. With all this DNA testing, I
can't help but wonder, one of these days is there
going to be this kid? This man um piving me
(07:33):
a message thing? I think I'm part of your family. Well, thanks, Danny,
I appreciate you're listening to my story, and I look
forward to hearing other people's stories of If you'd like
to share your story, call one eight Secret zero and
(07:57):
record your story. We won't be able to run all
the stories, but we do want to shine a light
on as many as we count. The number again is
one eight eight Secret and then the numeral zero. For
(08:21):
more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Family Secrets is a production of I Heart Radio. This January,
Danny's taking Family Secrets on the road. To get your tickets,
visit Danny Shapiro dot com. I'm Danny Shapiro and this
is Family Secrets, the secrets that are kept from us,
(00:23):
the secrets we keep from others, and the secrets we
keep from ourselves. I've heard from so many about your
own family secrets and realize that what we are creating
for each other on this podcast is a community, a
community for those who are looking for a safe and
supportive space to unburden themselves. To that end, we've created
(00:44):
a number for listeners to call in to record stories
to share here in this space. This week, I'd like
to share a few of those stories from our community.
Thanks for listening. Hi, Danny, Um, I am calling from Ohio. UM.
I am sixty years old, just turned sixty. All of
(01:07):
my life I felt as though I did not look
like um. My birth certificate fathers like him or his family.
And I'm eight years apart from my brother and six
years apart from my sister in age. So I had
questioned that all my life. I in Christmas of eighteen,
(01:29):
I took it ancestry DNA tests and discovered that my truth,
my feelings were actually truth. UM, that my who I
knew as my father all my life was not my father.
I actually found through then getting a DNA detective to
(01:51):
help me research it, that I have a half sister
and a half niece in California, UM, and I was
given contact information. I contacted her. She knew all about me. UM.
It was very emotional for me hearing someone say, you're
my sister. I've known about you since I was sixteen,
(02:11):
so I am two years older than her I would
have been eighteen. UM. So I'm still trying to wrap
my head around how all these people knew about me
and no one told me, No one slipped ever, and
everyone is deceased now, my parents, UM, my real father, everyone.
(02:33):
So I have one elderly cousin to my birth father
that has been extremely helpful showing me photos and telling
me stories of my father, my birth father. So it's
it's been a struggle, a long journey and of an
emotional roller coaster. And my story goes a lot deeper
(02:54):
than that. I have love letters my mother wrote. My
half sister provided me with stacks of love letters she
wrote during her pregnancy with me, which gave me some
of the answers to what went on, but still left
me with more questions. I just wanted to share that,
and UM, I thank you for listening. Ye him. My
(03:19):
secret is that I was dating someone on Tinder and
I got pregnant and I had his day. Um. But
the real secret is I actually don't know who the
father is. UM. And this was really really difficult for
(03:45):
me to expressed to my family. I am from a
Muslim family, in a practicing Muslim family, and so for
me to even be pregnant, uh, with anybody's child is
like a shock anybody's child out of marriage. UM. For
(04:07):
me to be pregnant with someone's child who I was
seeing on Tinder is something they probably couldn't have handled.
So I basically told them a lie about me needing
someone I had to like. I kind of got married
to them, we eloped pregnant. I don't think they believe
(04:29):
it to this day, but UM, that's kind of the
story that I was I was feeling comfortable telling them. UM.
If they ever found out that I actually don't know
who the father is, I think that they would just
be mind boggle. Mind. Boggle is the word that comes
to my mind. Um. But it happened, and it happens.
(04:53):
It happens, um, not just in my face, it happens everybody,
like all around the world. Where you make certain decisions
in your life, UM, and you then decide what you're
going to do with those decisions. UM. And so I
chose to have the baby, UM. And I am so glad,
(05:17):
so glad that I had my child. I just adore him,
I love him to it. I don't know yet how
I'm going to break it to him that I don't
know who the father is. But I'll cross that bridge
when I get to it. Hey, Danny, I found out
(05:39):
one of our family's secrets about twenty years ago. UM.
I was married at the time and having a hard
time conceiving a child myself. And around the same time,
my sister was going through a hard time and I
haven't to speak to her childhood friend whom I have
not had not talked to and cry a long while.
(06:01):
And she, in the course of conversation, mentioned something about
having when she was there for my sister's um last
child when her last child was born, and I mentioned
my nephew's name, and she kind of realized that I
didn't know, but she went ahead and told me that no,
she meant her third child and must only have two.
(06:24):
And I learned that she had found out she was
pregnant while she was in between marriages, and it was
too far along to make any other decision than to
have the child and give it up for adoption. Of course,
I was hurt that she hadn't thought of me, knowing
that that I so desperately wanted a child, But the
(06:47):
friend explained to me that she had thought of that.
I thought it would be too difficult to have this
child be so ever present in her life, so instead
she chose to um because it maybe up to her
friend's cousin. To this day, I have never talked about
it to anyone in my family. I don't know if
(07:09):
my sister knows that I know. I don't know if
my mom or my dad had known, or I have
no idea. UM. Maybe one day I'll get up courage
to actually ask her. With all this DNA testing, I
can't help but wonder, one of these days is there
going to be this kid? This man um piving me
(07:33):
a message thing? I think I'm part of your family. Well, thanks, Danny,
I appreciate you're listening to my story, and I look
forward to hearing other people's stories of If you'd like
to share your story, call one eight Secret zero and
(07:57):
record your story. We won't be able to run all
the stories, but we do want to shine a light
on as many as we count. The number again is
one eight eight Secret and then the numeral zero. For
(08:21):
more podcasts for my heart Radio, visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple podcast, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows.
Family Secrets News
Host
Dani Shapiro
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