A man's life was shattered into a million pieces after discovering his older sister is actually his biological mother. He explained how his entire family covered up the truth for 17 long years before his 'older sister', named Hannah, came clean about his conception.
Hannah fell pregnant at 13 years old and refused to give up the child, instead agreeing to pretend he was her brother rather than her son. Taking to Reddit, he said: "As many stupid kids do, she had unprotected sex with a boy, and she had gotten pregnant - and that child was me.
"At the time, her parents wanted her to give the baby away for adoption, but she was unshakable and wanted to keep her child. She completely refused to give me, her son, away. They eventually agreed to keep me, and would raise me in their household, but with her parents as the guardians, and I would grow up thinking they were my real parents."
He went on to explain how his biological grandparents made Hannah swear never to tell him the truth to hide the 'shame' of a teenage pregnancy.
His other 'siblings' were also sworn to secrecy and grew up pretending they were his brothers and sisters rather than his aunties and uncles.
It wasn't until after his mum - actually his grandmother - passed away that Hannah told him the truth about everything.
"When mum got sick, Hannah had approached her and pleaded with her to relieve her of this burden because she really wanted to tell me," he added.
"My mother had agreed that she could tell me only after some time passed after her death, she wanted to die as my mother, not grandmother.
"Hannah said all my life she had wanted to tell me, but had sworn not to.
"There were many times where she felt like she had to tell me, but had held herself back.
"Now, she was finally glad she was able to tell me the truth she had always wanted to - that I am her son.
"I was taken back completely, I had no idea how to react."
Hannah was granted parental custody of him for a year before he turned 18, saying it finally gave her a chance to be a "real mother" to him.
He said: "I told her I couldn't refer to her as 'mum', it wouldn't feel natural and I just wasn't ready yet, so I'll keep calling her 'Hannah'.
"Hannah is really prepared to make this an actual thing, her my mother, me her son.
"She told me 'I know this is very heavy for you, if you want to be left alone, I understand. If you just want to continue our relationship the way it was before, I understand. But you have to know, you do have a mother still, and she loves you, and she will always be there for you. Never ever feel like you don't have a home to go to'.
"She then hugged me and I couldn't hold back my tears any more, I buried my face against her chest and let out all the tears; she held my head and hushed me, telling me it would all be OK.
"She said I'm finally at my real home, and I had nothing to be afraid of."
Despite her thoughtful words, he said the news threw his entire life upside down, making him question even the smallest of things.
He added: "I am afraid. I don't know where I belong. I have so many fears and apprehensions.
"I just lost the only mother I had ever known, I don't know if I can ever accept a second one.
"But part of it feels right, like she said, that things are finally corrected. Personally, I just wish I had known the truth earlier.
"But I always felt a stronger connection with her than with any of my other siblings. She was always my biological mother, nothing can change that.
"But does that make her my real mother? Can I accept her as that? Can I accept this new 'home' as she calls it, can I accept this new family?
"I don't even know what real mother means.
"Maybe I'm seeing things I'm not meant to see; maybe I'm so devastated and distraught from the death of my mother, I'm willing to give the mantle piece of mother over to Hannah just to lessen the blow of losing a mother, so I tell myself I still have one.
"Even if biological mother does not equal real mother, she definitely wants to take on the role of the real mother."
Commenting on his post, one user said: "You don't have to come to terms with this overnight. You can just take your time.
"I think seeing a family counsellor (perhaps one specialised in blended and non-traditional families) might help.
"The most important thing is that you have a lot of good people in your life who love you very much, regardless of biological specifics."
Another user added: "Hannah is your biological mother, you always felt closer as a mother to her than your grandmother. But your grandmother raised you she will always be a mum to you.
"This is why she didn't want to be around while Hannah told you because she didn't want to see you upset or struggling with it.
"She was 13 at the time, it was the best decision she could have made for you."
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