In the latest issue of Oprah Winfreys magazine she reveals that she was shattered when a relative, in 1990, told the world that she had a baby at the tender age of fourteen. Winfrey is writing about her “First Betrayal” as per the February issue’s theme “My first”.

The relative that Oprah feels betrayed her had told the National Enquirer that Winfrey had given birth to a baby who later died in the hospital a few weeks later. The associated press identified the blabbing relative as Oprahs half sister Patricia Lloyd. Oprah says her relative “sat in a room, told them the story of my hidden shame and left their offices $19,000 richer.”

When Oprah found out, she writes “I took to my bed and cried for three days. I felt devastated. Wounded. Betrayed. How could this person do this to me?”

Before the article came out, she says, “Only my family and closest friends knew. I would tell no one until I felt safe enough to share my dark past: the years I was sexually abused, from age 10 to 14, my resulting promiscuity as a teenager, and finally, at 14, my becoming pregnant.”

“I imagined that every person on the street was going to point their finger at me and scream, ‘Pregnant at 14, you wicked girl … expelled!’ ”

She came to find that “No one said a word … not strangers, not even people I knew. I was shocked. Nobody treated me differently. For 20 years, I had been expecting a reaction that never came.

“And I soon realized that having the secret out was liberating. … What I learned for sure was that holding the shame was the greatest burden of all.”

Related Reading:

Oprah: A Biography

O, The Oprah Magazine

OPRAH ( Love, Power and Passion ) REVISED EDITION

O, The Oprah Magazine (1-year auto-renewal)

The Oprah Winfrey Show: 20th Anniversary Collection

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