What's her secret?

She has a half sister named "Patricia"...sorry I thought by now everyone knew. Also a nephew and niece by the way.

I'm not a big fan of Oprah, but watched it today. I was very impressed with how it was presented and feel that she truly is happy about finding her sister Patricia, who seems like a very nice, well balanced human being.

So why'd she want to commit suicide ovet that?

I was touched too - not by Oprah, but by Patricia who seemed to be genuinely concerned about the effect this would have on Oprah. One part of it though still seemed a little distasteful to me - Oprah still had a camera crew present for the first meeting between the two half-sisters. Is nothing sacred to her? It was just a little too bizarre.

I saw the show. Veey touching, very classy handling. Now I'd like to know the rest of the story-who was her father? Not Mr. winfrey, Oprah's father, as Oprah stated.

So why'd she want to commit suicide ovet that?
She didn't! She was near suicidal when she was pregnant as a teen. My, how things can get mixed up....

There was no camera crew, she said it was home video.

Oprah said it was a family video not a camera crew....The sister Pat was given a lot of deserved credit for not selling the story to the news medai (tabloids) even after she was pretty positive of the real truth.....they did DNA tests just to be absolutely sure. Back in Oprah's Mother's time it wasn't that accepted....out of wedlock pregnancy and also giving a child up for adoption...she didn't want to have anything to do with the daughter when she tried to contact her and she just said, she wasn't ready.....but Oprah speculates it was shame and embarrassment .........

I thought it was a good show .

50/50 on how it was handled...had to feel for sister pat's (now passed) children for mom's "dirty laundry" being outted betraying oprah's lost child to the press and being a druggie..to sit there looking at mirror image of their mom and being asked how does that feel???

patricia and family were very classy...and a bit uncomfortable..

I think Oprah did the right thing, making the public announcement like this... on her own terms, rather than have some tabloid splay it & tell it inaccurately & have someone else ca$h in on selling the story. I didn't know that it was Oprah's other half sister who sold the story of O's teen pregnancy. What a betrayal & it's obvious that still pains Oprah.

Somehow, don't know why, but Oprah has not been my flavor.

She has done so much and I praise her for all she has done.

I agree with Beeohio in that Oprah did the right thing by making the announcement instead of waiting for the tabloids to have a field day with it. I agree with Susan too about Patricia and her family being uncomfortable... they've been thrown into the spotlight and I'm sure it'll take some getting used to.

I felt like Oprah was really sincere today. I think it's nice too that she has a living sister now. I didn't realize she'd already lost her two siblings that she knew about.

I don't usually watch Oprah, although I do like her (just don't watch daytime TV), but today's show was very good.

I watched it mesmerized and found it very touching. We have adopted children in our family and you could see the longing that her sister Patricia had all her life to desire to see her real family. It was tastefully presented and came across extremely thoughtful and concise. Oprah was right to air it on t.v. She's always been a jump on the rag mags if there's a reason to be and this certainly was a good reason.

I didn't see the show as I work during the day. I don't understand this from above: "...had to feel for sister pat's (now passed) children for mom's "dirty laundry" being outted betraying oprah's lost child to the press and being a druggie..to sit there looking at mirror image of their mom and being asked how does that feel??? "

Isn't Pat (Patricia) the half sister? Are you saying her children have passed? And what is her dirty laundry, how did she betray Oprah's lost child, etc.? Now I'm curious!

Oprah has a dead sister Patricia (she called Pat). She now has a half sister also named Patricia. The dead sister was the one who told the tabloids about Oprahs child (who also died). Oprah concludes that her mom is ashamed that she had a child out of wedlock and gave her up for adoption. Now that all the news is out, Oprah want's her mom to move on. (and I believe she has) All the nieces and nephew(s) are alive.

I should have reread that! Oprah's mom gave birth To the second Patricia when Oprah was seven. I believe Oprah lived with her dad, which was unusual for the time. She never knew her younger sister was born or given up for adoption. Oprah's mom didn't want to meet this Patricia at first because it SEEMS she was ashamed. I speculate that the mom knew of Oprah's circumstances and didn't know whether to bring a new woman into the picture.

I keep thinking that wow, this is big news because it's Oprah, but it happens here all the time when the obituaries hit the newspaper.

Patricia might just get her OWN show!

I wish I could remember how Oprah worded it when she said it was a relief that her sister spilled her secret to the tabloids about Oprah's giving birth and how it allowed her to move on. I thought she said it well but can't remember her exact words. Anyone remember?

Also, there were a couple of times I had to move away from the tv and may have missed this part, but were Patricia's adoptive parents ever mentioned?

Ok, I get it now; thanks toni. I didn't realize there was another sister named Pat/Patricia.

patricia'a adoptive family, if there was one, wasn't discussed. speculation that she was in foster care all along rather than one family. she, herself, had a baby at 17. also, oprah's mom and dad were not married when she was born.......maybe not ever married according to someone i read.

patricia'a adoptive family, if there was one, wasn't discussed. speculation that she was in foster care all along rather than one family.

Per the link below:
"Patricia, who Winfrey said bounced from foster home to foster home until she was adopted at age 7, had given up after previous searches for her mother."

Here is a link that might be useful: Oprah's secret

Yes, Mammie, that's a good point. While Oprah was *betrayed* by her now deceased sister Pat who sold the "14 yr old Oprah pregnancy story", Oprah sees now that it had a silver lining in that the outing allowed Oprah to move on. Likewise, she believes that her Mom will be able to move on from the guilt she carried for having given Patricia up for adoption. Mom was on welfare @ the time & didn't think she could care for a new baby.

Sadly, the baby was left in the hospital for a month, then went to a series of foster homes... some not so good, until she was adopted @ age 7. I wonder about the adoptive parents, too. But @ any rate Patricia appears to be a well grounded woman of character.

Whatever happened to Oprah's baby that she had at 14? Does Oprah know who/where it is now?

Blessings,
Haley

The baby died at birth, Haley.

So did anyone wonder why Oprah's mother didn't give HER up for adoption? Vernita wasn't married then either. How old was she, when she had Oprah?
Patricia wasn't married when she had her children. There was no mention of any father to Patricia's children.

It was obvious then, that while Oprah was at her father's, there wasn't any communication with the mother. Unless, Vernita did have contact, but no mention of any pregnancy. What was Jeffrey's cause of death?

I saw the show, years ago, when Oprah went to her father's barbershop. He didn't seem very interested in having her there.
She's been a lucky lady, to have survived as she has.

Ahhhh, got it! So sad. :( Thanks, Beeohio! :)

If Jeffrey is Oprah's brother,he died of AIDS.

Yes, Jeffrey was the brother.
That's too bad.

Is this Patricia perhaps Oprah's baby that supposedly died? That might be cause for "shaking me to the core" and a suicide attempt. But I guess the program did show a birth certificate with Oprah's mother's name on it. Also, this new half-sister was 47yrs. old?

there was no suicide attempt or thought over this.... if mentioned in conjunction with this story, it must have been simply sensationalism on the editing side. oprah would have been 9 when patricia was born and the child oprah had at age 14 was a boy.

Thanks, Bee. I think I've got it now. Was I the only one who felt Oprah's mom still didn't act too interested in Patricia?

During the interview at the mother's house, the mother never even looked at Patricia. I feel very sad for Patricia, who is trying to connect with her mother. The mother seems so cold. Was the mother ever married, to anyone?
When the mother rejected Patricia's attempts to contact her, she said she decided to continue anyway, for the sake of her children. Classy woman, I think.

I watched the show and loved the part when they spent Thanksgiving together. Made me miss our family Thanksgivings and sure wouldn't mind being part of such a fun family. So much laughter and happiness. (Food looked good, too.) I wonder if Oprah ever had such a fun Thanksgiving day??? I think Oprah and Patricia are both lucky ladies.

I taped the show and just watched it this morning...I thought she handled the situation very well, with her usual class and grace.. I have always admired her. Her newly found sister seems to have those same qualities, the fact that she did not sell Oprah out was very admirable.