“My husband was my father”, woman makes disturbing discovery

A woman has spoken of her shock at discovering her late husband was in fact her father.

Valerie Spruill, from Doylestown, Ohio, had heard rumors about their relationship but she only learned the truth from an uncle soon after her husband, Percy, had died in 1998 at age 60, the Akron Beacon Journal reported.

Spruill confirmed the family history through a DNA test.

"It needs to be told, because children need to know where they come from," she told the journal.

"And I know it hurts, because I have been devastated by this," said Spruill, who has three children and eight grandchildren.

She strongly believes her husband was aware of the tabo, but was simply afraid to tell her he was her father.

In her media interview, Spruill said she tries not to hate him due to her strong religious beliefs to forgive and forget.

“I want this to be more of an inspirational story,” she said.

“If I’ve come through this, anyone can come through anything through the help of the Lord.”

Spruill hopes her story will help find her other siblings. 

Her mother, Christine, and father had her when they were teenagers, and the number of children is not known. She is aware of six brothers.

Spruill was raised by her grandparents and when her mother visited, she was told Christine was a family friend.

The Daily Mail reported that at aged nine, she found out Christine's identity – who died in 1984 – as well as discovering that the man she thought was her father was her grandfather.

She was not told who her real father was and she later met and married Percy, who worked in Akron as a truck driver.