Oprah has always been a mainstay in the world of celebrity culture. Aside from her Academy Award-nominated performance in 1985’s The Color Purple, Oprah is widely known for her talk show, wherein she gives hard-hitting questions to her celebrity guests.
Oprah has also been very vocal about her old life, growing up poor and working hard to become the woman she is today. However, many people may not know about Oprah because she once got pregnant at 14, and she claims that the child “never felt like it was her baby.
The Lesser-Known Story of Oprah’s Pregnancy
Winfrey was so secretive about her teenage pregnancy that she hid this information for seven months until she was forced to undergo a premature birth. During her Life Class program, she opened up that she was so embarrassed by her pregnancy, and that’s why she wanted to hide it from everyone she knew.
She also talked about the detachment she felt from the baby once it was born.
“I was so ashamed. I hid the pregnancy until my swollen ankles and belly gave me away… I saved that baby because I was so disassociated and still do feel such a disassociation. I never felt like it was my baby.”
Oprah has also opened up about how that entire phase of her life inflicted on her a certain trauma that she would carry with her as he grew older. The star talk-show host was candid about the emotional fragility she felt during that time and how this has impacted her even as an adult.
“Hiding that secret and carrying that shame blocked me in so many ways that I remember being taken to the detention home when my mother was going to put me out of the house at the age of 14.”
The beloved public figure also divulged that her pregnancy was a result of her own relatives even when she was as young as nine-years-old.
“The experience was the most emotional, confusing, traumatic of my young life.”
Unfortunately, the child passed away shortly after birth.
Turning Things Around
Winfrey then found herself being taken to a detention home. She recounted looking around her and finally getting a grip of this environment that she was in.
“I’m now for the rest of my life going to be called a ‘bad girl,’ because I’m going to be put in this place.”
As fate would have it, the people at the detention facility couldn’t accommodate her and told her mother to bring her back in a couple of weeks. Immediately after that, Winfrey went to live with her father, and that’s when she decided to turn her life around.
“From that moment forward, I felt like I had been somehow saved, that somebody up there recognized that I wasn’t a bad girl.”
Oprah worked hard to build herself up into the woman that she has now become from then on. She is now a media mogul and is one of the world’s most famous and successful people.
Isn’t this such an inspirational and brave story? What traumatic experiences do you have in your past that you’ve managed to overcome? Please share them in the comment section below.
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I do understand what it’s like to be young and feel detached from your baby. Not because you don’t love them but because you do. I was 15 and pregnant, estranged from my family and alone. Even though I came from a well to do family, it was a broken and abusive home. I cut ties. At 7 months pregnant, I had been going hungry. I remember getting up the courage and swallowing my false pride to hitchhike, big belly, pouring rain and all into the nearby town to try and secure food. I only made it as far as the phone booth, a block away from the actual welfare office when my courage failed me. Instead, I ducked in, and dialed the local office. The woman answering the phone, asked, “What are you calling for?” Then followed up with, “Name, age?” As soon as I answered that I was 15, her response came. “Sorry, services are only available for those 18 and above. Have a good day.” She then hung up. There was nothing “good or nice in her tone” and I stood there, stomach empty, pouring rain, with the realization that I was not going to find a way to eat for a while. And a bigger realization, this baby, was not really going to ever be mine. Tears ran down my face. I would also later be threatened by my pediatrician to not deliver the baby if I didn’t pay his bill prior to birth. Granted things are much different today. But I can say, when I did deliver my beautiful baby, I recall looking down at her. I was anemic from going hungry. Somehow, she was healthy☀️. I knew I couldn’t give her the life she deserved. I loved her unconditionally. But, I was detached. I rebuilt my life and became successful despite my difficult start. She will always be my daughter. I will always love her and regret I couldn’t have given her a better start. She was adopted and I did grow to have a relationship with her♥️.
Thank you for being such an inspirational and strong woman, Marsha! Sending lots of love your way <3
First business first, Up there, out there is God our Lord and Savior, to whom even the great, and the proclaimed mighty, on this earth, has to bow before, at the end of their cycle of life. Secondly, I’m so happy that they turned her away. I remember the reform schools back in the day, yes when they labeled young ladies “Bad” never attempting to get to the source of the pain they were acting out of. Most times back then, it was a result of abuse, and sad to say, sexual abuse, and mainly stemming from incest. Thank you Ms Oprah for speaking out about this, you probably freed a lot of minds, and opens up the minds of some who were in denial. Good for you, I pray your Baby was born healthy and had a blessed life🙏🏾
I think Oprah is an amazing woman. She has managed to become the person who God intended her to become. I really like her. Thank you Oprah for your honesty.