This was on Monday’s show. It seems Oprah’s mother gave birth to and gave up a daughter for adoption. Oprah was living with her father at the time and never knew about it until the woman tracked down her birth records and finally confronted Oprah’s niece in the restaurant she owns. DNA has confirmed it.
Talk about being luckier than winning the lottery!
If I was in that situation, I’m not sure it would affect me much. The half sister has no ties to the family except dna. I guess it matters more that Oprah’s mom carried the baby for 9 months.
I guess I’m not sentimental. I’d be somewhat neutral. The half sister has her own family that raised and loved her.
Given some time maybe a bond will develop between Oprah and her new sis. It’ll take awhile.
She did spend the first seven years of her life in foster care. When her mother tried to track her down, she was tolfd it was too late, her daughter was already adopted!
To her credit, the half sister has avoided the press. She could have cashed in and didn’t. That’s a big plus. I read Oprah brought her on the show so that the tabloids couldn’t break the story first.
I recall years ago, that other relatives did cash in with press stories. That must have really hurt Oprah.
I caught some of last night’s show at my mom’s while she was watching it.
I felt bad for Oprah and her whole family…because this is Oprah and instead of just dealing with it however a “regular” family might deal with it, they had to have meetings and make plans about how everything would happen with regards to the revelation. And the plans had to include the press and national TV.
I think Oprah executed the whole thing very nicely, and all of her family did a good job. I’m sure they were reluctant to be put in this situation but it turned out well. Major kudos to the “new sister” as well.
Is this woman older or younger than Oprah? She is pretty and looks a lot younger.
Younger. I think they said Pat is 47. Oprah was born in 1954, so she’s (doing math) 56 or thereabouts.
I agree – Patricia is very pretty and very sweet, and appears genuine. I think she was uncomfortable with all the attention but she handled it well. She definitely doesn’t strike me as someone who sees Oprah as a potential cash cow.
But I gotta wonder about Vernita’s story. She went back to the hospital a month later to get her baby? Even in 1963, babies didn’t stay in hospital for a month.
It’s a weird coincidence that Vernita gave birth to two daughters, both named Patricia.
I think what makes this woman three times as lucky as any random stranger who learned they were Oprah-sib is having the name Pat. Oprah is superstitious (pardon me, spiritual) anyway and will see it as a sign.
Oprah’s other sister Pat betrayed her big time by selling the story of Oprah’s teen pregnancy and stillbirth to tabloids. She’s said that in ways it worked out well for her because she no longer had to hide or feel ashamed of the story. That Pat is now dead.
I think Oprah discovered low ratings on her cable channel.
I’ve read that she’s starting her own continent, O!LAND, in the Pacific.
I heard she knew about this since 2007.
What’s weird about Pat?
ETA: Wiki says Oprah had another sister called Pat who died. But why is this a coincidence–doesn’t it just mean her mother liked the name Patricia? Or did someone else name this adopted child that?
Because apparently her mother didn’t name the girl she put up for adoption.
Wow. Don’t fuck with Oprah.
Dramatic recreation of Oprah’s reaction at the time starring Al Pacino as Oprah and as Jeffrey Jones as Pat (NSFW due to language).
In other words…
Oprah tries to rescue her dismal ratings
To me, it’s awfully convenient that Oprah decided to reveal this in the opening week of her new masturbatory network.
StG
Can’t you just feel the love for Oprah?
Refreshing!
Oprah bringing her on the show so that the tabloids couldn’t break the story first is ludicrous. Why did she feel that sensationalizing it on her show was an appropriate response to a private family matter? She could have made an announcement and left it at that if she really thought the tabloids would get ahold of it anyway. The woman has been on daytime television for so long that she thinks TV confessionals are a real way of life.
needscoffee, I’m not an Oprah fan, but in her defense, she talked about other shows she’s done where long-lost family members were reunited, so why not share her own story.
Even though Oprah’s not popular here, she has a gazillion fans, and she knew they’d be interested. Oprah wanted to control how the story came out, put the right spin on it.
Also, now Patricia can tell People and the other media to go away, because the story’s been told. That might have been more difficult for her if Oprah hadn’t done the show.
(But I’d like to know what Oprah would have done if Patricia had turned out to be a lowlife.)
Yes, Oprah’s first half-sister was named Patricia by her mother, and the second was named Patricia by someone else. The current Patricia has a daughternamed Aquarius and a son named Andre. Oprah was born January 29th, zodiac sign of Aquarius, and her longtime hairdresser is Andre Harrell. Go figure.