We are always happy to see flashbacks on soaps, and though we’re unhappy about the reason for them on Days of our Lives — John’s inevitable death — Carrie’s reminiscing with Marlena about how, even though she is Anna and Roman’s biological child, Marlena and John are the ones who actually raised her, reminded us of other times a soap opera kid has ended up with a completely different set of parents.
DAYS Death’s Door
Roman only met Carrie when she was 4 years old, and her presumed-dead mother, Anna (Leanne Hunley), turned up in Salem. Anna handed the little girl over to Roman and Marlena (Deidre Hall) to raise.
Then Roman “died,” and Carrie ended up primarily in Marlena’s care. Then Marlena met John (Drake Hogysten), who was determined to be Roman. Then Marlena “died,” and Carrie (Christie Clark), along with Sami (Alison Sweeney) and Eric (Greg Vaughan), grew up with their single dad, Roman/John.
Then Marlena came back — and she had Roman (Josh Taylor) with her. But Carrie was grown by then. So, like she told Marlena at John’s bedside, she is more Marlena and John’s daughter than anyone else’s.
Young, Restless & Confused
Follow closely, this one is tricky: Leslie (Janice Lynde) grew up in the shadow of her sister, Lori (Jamie Lynn Bauer), on The Young and the Restless. (She even wrote a book about it called In My Sister’s Shadow, in case we weren’t sure how she felt about it.)
Lori was in love with Lance (John McCook pre-The Bold and Beautiful). But, one night, when Lori and Lance were on the outs, Lance slept with Leslie. Leslie became pregnant, but Lori and Lance had reunited by then, so Lance’s brother, Lucas (Tom Lignon), stepped up and pretended to be the baby’s father.
When the baby was born, he was shockingly not named something that started with the letter L. He was named Brooks after his mother’s maiden name. But when Brooks was still a baby, Leslie had a nervous breakdown, and Lori took over raising him. Brooks thought of Lori as his mother and Lucas as his father. He was wrong in both cases.
Guiding Light to the Wrong Parents
Justin (Tom O’Rourke) dumped Jackie (Cindy Pickett) before knowing she was pregnant. Jackie gave birth to a baby boy she gave up for adoption. Coincidentally, in the same hospital, Alan’s (Chris Bernau) wife, Elizabeth, had just given birth to a stillborn infant. “What luck,” Alan thought, and scooped up baby Phillip… without bothering to mention that detail to Elizabeth.
Years later, Jackie came to Springfield to reclaim Philip, and ended up marrying Alan to do it, while Justin married Elizabeth to pretty much achieve the same thing. When Elizabeth found out the truth about her son, she fled to Europe, leaving custody to Jackie and Justin. Alan wasn’t pleased. Phillip asked to live with his step-parents, the newly reunited Jackie and Justin. Alan really wasn’t pleased. Much drama ensued.
Do you have a favorite misplaced child soap story in daytime? Tell us in the comments!
