I realized that there's been a lot of lore drops so...more lore! Ask some questions and I'll answer them (maybe)
Lore (01): One of the 29 children was closer to Rictus than the others and they were number 14. When the turning started to happen they abandoned Rictus and made a deal with one of the staff to be ferried away with the price of tranquilizing Rictus and subjecting him to the worst of the experiments. Rictus never blamed them and just blamed himself for being too weak. Lore (02): Rictus did know and live with his parents up to the age of 5 so he can remember them, vaguely. The reason why he was sent to the orphanage was because some of the agents of Creekwood (yes the orphanage was actually an extension facility) found him and his parents, burned their house and uhh, took care of them. Rictus' memory ended up being wiped and replaced with his parents abandoning them. Lore (03): There was a look-a-like of Crowe at the facility where Rictus was taken and they DID draw his blood but they were actually a different person and might be responsible for why Rictus hates and can be easily scared by heights and flowers. (Yes he has anthophobia but more specifically poppies.)