My personal belief is that he probably was born in Hawaii, but there might be another reason for him not to release the original records. For example, maybe it will open up a case to challenge his natural born status on other legal grounds, as some claim.
In any case, I agree with you that it’s not so far-fetched that a family would lie to a child. The press is wrong. Sometimes families lie to children to protect them. I remember when parents sometimes didn’t tell their adopted children they were adopted. And how many single or divorced parents have told not-so-true stories to their children about the other parent? If the Jerry Springer show is any indication, apparently some mothers themselves don’t even know the origins of their children.
I’m not saying Obama was lied to. I believe his mother would’ve told him if he was born in Kenya. But, parents and grandparents sometimes do hide information from children or tell them an “untrue” story for many different reasons.
I read a book about 15 years ago that taught (and encouraged) the reader on how to trace back family history to reveal family secrets that were hidden in the past. Unfortunately, I've forgotten the name and many of the details, but it was very interesting. Had a lot to do with researching genealogy and matching up birth dates, marriage dates, etc. Now, with the advent of DNA, I'll bet a lot of secrets will come tumbling out.