As anyone who has traveled for a long period of time can confirm that home is where the heart is. While adventuring around the globe is all well and good, there’s something safe and comforting about returning to your own personal space — most of the time. For Steve Lickteig, however, his home turned into a waking nightmare.
As a teenager, Lickteig learned a startling truth about his adoptive parents that shook him to his core. Faced with that terrible realization, he fled his home, hoping to leave the dark secret far behind him.
Shadow Hanging Over Him
Growing up, Steve Lickteig was part of a big happy family. While he knew that he was adopted, that wasn’t a problem; if anything, it made things seem even more serendipitous.
The First Meeting
According to Steve’s foster parents, they found him in an orphanage as a baby; no one was sure who his biological parents were. Destiny, it seemed, was guiding the family’s hand.
Welcoming One More
Although the Lickteigs had plenty of children, they couldn’t say no to baby Steve. Without a second thought, the began the adoption process. He was simply meant to be part of the family!
Today
The Perfect Life
Once all the details were hashed out, Steve came home and began growing up with the Lickteigs. Everything seemed pretty perfect; he attended school, had a loving home, and was surrounded by brothers and sisters.
The Future Beckons
Eventually, Steve neared the end of high school. With graduation on the horizon and a military career waiting beyond that, he knew his life was about to change. A terrible surprise, however, was also waiting for the teenager.
Secrets Are Spilled
On the night before graduation, Steve was hanging out with some of his friends. Everything was going great until two other guys, Vance and Alan, told Steve that there was something he needed to know.
His Biological Mother
Alan and Vance explained that they actually knew the identity of Steve’s biological mother. While Steve wasn’t sure how his friends could have found her without a DNA test, he couldn’t believe what they said next.
Codee Yount / YouTube
Her Name Is Joanie
They explained that someone named Joanie was actually Steve’s real mom. There was one problem, though. Steve already knew exactly who that was; Joanie was his older foster sister!
Common Knowledge
To make matters worse, Alan and Vance weren’t the only ones who knew the Lickteig family secret. Apparently the entire town had apparently shared the gossip, but no one ever told Steve.
His Troubled Mind
Despite that revelation, Steve didn’t immediately react. While he tried to put the possibility out of his mind, he couldn’t ignore the truth. Eventually, he needed to confront the woman who raised him from his earliest days.
Caught in the Act
One night, Steve’s foster mom caught him in a “sort of compromising situation.” While that proved to be an awkward moment, it gave him the perfect opportunity to learn the truth.
The Abstinence Talk
“The next morning, my mom turned on one of those television preachers and she turned the TV up really loud and the preacher was teaching abstinence,” Steve told NPR. Then, he laid his cards on the table…
The Virginian-Pilot
Steve Forces a Confrontation
“Oh, did you play this same thing for Joanie?” he asked. “Did you teach Joanie abstinence,” you know, “as she got pregnant with me?” While his mother tried to deny it, there was no going back.
California Dreaming
It turned out that, as a young woman, Joanie clashed with her mother, Mary Jane. When she was 20-years old, Joanie finally had enough; she left home, set out on her own, and moved to California.
Her Leading Man
In California, she met a charming older man with an alluring accent. Before long, Joanie was pregnant with his child. Their relationship, however, wouldn’t have a fairy tale ending.
Her Only Option
As a young woman who was pregnant out of wedlock, Joanie returned home. Since her relationship would have caused a scandal in suburbia, Mary Jane, had a solution to hide the illegitimate child in plain sight.
PBS
Fake Adoption
Rather than letting Joanie raise Steve, Mary Jane decided to claim him as her “adopted” son. While everyone around town knew the truth, it gave everyone plausible deniability; no one, other than Alan and Vance, could bring themselves to spill the beans.
Visible Magazine
Making Peace
Understandably, that revelation had a major impact on Steve; everything he thought he knew about his life had been a life. After leaving home, he and Joanie found some peace. Blood, after all, is thicker than water.
Today
Mending the Bridge
“[Our relationship is] not the best, but it’s not horrible, either,” he explained on the Today Show in 2019. “It’s just been hard for me. I feel like we are ultimately going to be in a good place.” But their example encouraged other adoptees to seek out their biological families — often with jaw-dropping results.
