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Oprah reveals half-sister

Updated: Oprah tells her audience she has a half sister who was given up by her mother for adoption.

As predicted, Oprah Winfrey revealed to her audience that she has a half-sister -the family secret she had tipped.

Winfrey revealed that she learned she had a sister, Patricia, last October.

She was 9-years-old and living with her father in Tennessee when her mother, Vernita Lee, became pregnant with a daughter, Patricia, who was given up for adoption.

Born in 1963 in Milwaukee, Patricia would later live in a series of foster homes until the age of 7. She was then adopted, but said her childhood was “difficult.”

Patricia said she had tried years ago to learn the identity of the woman who gave her up for adoption, and only started to try again a few years ago at the insistence of her two adult children, who also appeared on Monday’s show.

Patricia said she feared her search would be fruitless after she received a telephone call from the state adoption agency, which reported that her birth mother had been contacted and did not wish to meet her.

But, coincidentally, on the local news that day, she saw a story about Winfrey’s mother, who described how two of her children had died.

Winfrey, who said DNA tests confirmed the two are half-sisters, met with Patricia and their mother in a pre-recorded segment of the show.

Winfrey also noted that Patricia had known of the secret since 2007, but had resisted selling her story.

UPDATED: Airing 8:30pm Friday on TEN.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96L1eeUhmaw[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_qBAJFY_RM[/youtube]

Source: People, The Age

27 Responses

  1. I’ve always wondered why people make this kind of thing public. I get that its Oprah, and she needs to control things that are released to the news/public about herelf, but still, even knowing that, it seems a little narcissistic to do a one hour special about your own family like that. And I agree with others about it not really being all that miraculous. Millions of people around the world are reunited with family members all the time.

  2. After watching that second clip, I’d like to know how Oprah “feels”. I don’t get why Patricia’s children weren’t “feeling complete” until their mother found her half-sister.

  3. This story would have come out eventually so isn’t it better that Oprah did it on her own terms rather than the tabloid press going into a frenzy and harrassing the people involved? I think if you have a talk show use it.

  4. How is this a miracle? She found her long lost sister. It is a good story and is good for Oprah personally. But why does this need to be aired on Tv or at all? Why couldnt this have been private. Somone is cashing in here and i dont think it is Patricia it might be Oprah for more positive publicity for her OWN channel. Sorry to sound sinical but that’s just the way i feel about this whole thing.

  5. That’s great. I’m happy for Oprah. I think she’ll enjoy having neices and nephews, not having kids herself. Gotta hand it to her, she is having a remarkable last season.

  6. Aren’t you all charming!

    Maybe to Oprah finding another family member is ‘the miracle of miracles’ and just because you are related to Oprah doesn’t mean you can use her as a bank, she hasn’t got where she is by being used has she?

  7. God Bless You and your Sister. Thank God You have someone. My brother died 21yrs. ago and I never had a sister. Some days I long for family. Go with God!!

  8. I guess the “miracle of all miracles” will be when Patricia banks the cheque…

    Typical Oprah, gotta share even the most intimate and private matters on her TV show. What a mess that woman is, no wonder so much of society today have no idea what personal privacy is or why it needs to be protected. If you (and your private life) aren’t on TV then you’re a failure.

  9. While it seems heart less and im sure they aren’t aren’t doing it for that, but if you found out that you were related to oprah and her billions, wouldn’t you use the logic that surely one day she is going to meet the man in the sky and leave a huge amount of $$$$$ for her new found nieces and nephews. Having watched that clip she didn’t seem that close to her sister yet, I know when we discovered that we had a half brother my family and I instantly warmed to him and didn’t have the years of distance between us.

  10. I think thats really wonderful. To find out she is her true half sister and didn’t want to cash in, its just awesome. Good luck to them both as they learn what its like to have a sister.

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