Okay I'm confused....I'm watching They Started On Soaps and they said Josh Snyder raped Iva and is Lily's father. I looked in my ATWT book and it said "Iva, the eldest daughter returned home after many years away and was soon followed by boy-crazy teenager Meg who liked to stir things up."

So if Iva is Emma's oldest daughter she has to be adopted bc that would make Holden Lily's uncle. Or is he adopted? What about Josh, how did he get the Snyder name?

This is all so confusing! They should've kept Lily as Lucinda's daughter.

Well, yes and no. It's all rather convoluted. Anyway, here goes...

Lily was adopted by Lucinda and former husband Martin Guest. Apparently, the adoption was somewhat illegal and Martin was blackmailed about it, resulting in his suicide. This all occurred prior to Lucinda's marriage and widowhood from Mr. Walsh (whose full name I forget) and Lucinda and Lily's arrival in Oakdale in the mid-1980s. Lily didn't know she was adopted. She was dating Dusty while both were teenagers and they met Holden & Meg. Teen Meg had a major wet spot for Dusty and schemed to get him. Meanwhile, stableboy Holden and rich Lily ended up falling in love. Holden's older sister Iva returned to town and it was revealed that Iva was Lily's birth mother. When Lily found out she was adopted (and that Holden had found out, but had kept it from her) she ran off with Dusty. Holden & Lily reunited, but were kept apart because Holden was now her uncle. Then it was revealed that Iva had been adopted, so they weren't blood related after all. Then it was revealed that Lily was the product of a rape by Snyder cousin Josh Snyder, making them blood related again. But it turned out that Josh had been adopted, too, making them *not* blood related again. Josh ended up turning into a good guy and married Meg, his not-so-cousin. In fact, it was Josh whom Meg had left when she returned to town played by Marie Wilson. Lily thinks of both Lucinda and Iva as her mother (even though Lily has disowned Lucinda several times over the years). Iva was last seen (I believe) at Rose's funeral (of course, Rose was also Iva's daughter). Sierra is Lucinda's daughter from her first marriage to Jacabo Esteban, but Sierra and Lucinda didn't know one another until Sierra was grown (Sierra had been told her mother had died). There was a bit of friction between Sierra and Lily for a while when that truth came out, with both feeling like outsiders in the Walsh family. Lucinda has another adopted daugher (Bianca, adopted as an older girl/young teen) who was a Montegan refugee. Bianca hasn't been seen or referenced in years, but at last mention, was working (I believe) for the United Nations. Lily holds dual family-ship in both the Walsh & Snyder families.

Don't worry. Holden and Lily are not biologically related.

Lily's biological mother is Iva Snyder. She was raped by her cousin Josh Snyder (Rod Landry is his other name). Iva is Emma's daughter but only her adoptive daughter. The same with Josh, he is Snyder through adoption. So, there's no biological link between Holden and Lily (I agree it's pretty confusing and maybe someone will explain to you than me).

LOL! THis is all so confusing! I remember being surprised to learn Lily and Lucinda weren't biologically related, they look a lot alike.

Iva is the daughter of Jared and Caroline Carpenter.Emma and Harvey adopted and raised Iva as their own.

Iva would spend time at Henry and Elizabeth Snyder. Their son was Josh.

Henry wasn't the father of Josh. Elizabeth had an affair with farm hand Cal Strycklin and he was Josh's father.Henry was abusive toward Josh.

Iva became pregnant after the rape. Lucinda and her husband adopted Lily.

When Josh came to Oakdale he went by the name Rod Landry.

Cal Strycklin was now a rich oilman who lived in Oakdale. He was involved with Emma,Lyla and married Conner.

Rod/Josh fell in love with Betsy Stewart.

The truth came out about Rod/Josh being Cal's son.

Iva came upon Josh and Lily in the barn at the farm. She mistakenly thought he was attacking her and blurted out the truth.

Edited to Add

Josh took the name Rod Landry because that was Cal's real name and he was known by that when he was with Elizabeth

I think I have my story straight!

Yeah, they're not since both Iva and Josh were adopted into the Snyder family.

The thing I always wondered about is, did when the truth came out about Iva being Lily's biological mother, did everyone already know that Iva had been adopted, or did that come out later?

I remember SID did a thing where they put the Hughes family tree and the Snyder family tree, and somewhere between the two every character on ATWT fit somehow. It was really cool...though a bit creepy if you think about it. Of all the soaps on TV, I think ATWT has the most entangled family trees. I'm sure you could connect all of the characters together in some way.

Lily and Lucinda do look a lot alike, especially around the eyes. And they both have the same mannerisms when they talk, though Lucinda's are definitely more over-the-top than Lily's. I also think that Luke and Holden look alike too, despite not being biologically-related.

I love the fact that Lucinda is Luke's biological adopted grandmother. I love it.