London:
TV mogul Oprah Winfrey hasintroduced the world to Patricia, her half-sister whoseexistence has been kept a secret for the past 47 years, on herchat show.
The chat show host met her sibling for the first timeon Thanksgiving day last year and said that the revelation"shocked her core".
Winfrey's mother Vernita Lee gave up Patricia foradoption shortly after her birth in 1963.
The 56-year-old billionaire has now met up with herhalf-sister, who is a single mother from Milwaukee, and thetwo were reunited with their mother for the first time asadults on the show, reported Daily Mail online.
Lee put the child up for adoption because she wantedto get off welfare and knew that if she had another child itmight not be possible.
Winfrey said that at the time she was eight and livingwith her father, and did not even know her mother waspregnant.
Winfrey told how Patricia had been trying to identifyher mother for years until she saw Lee in a TV interviewmention details that coincided with what she knew of her birthfamily.
Patricia got in touch with her half-sister at herproduction company in Chicago, which led to Winfreyconfronting her mother who confessed all.
DNA tests also confirmed that Patricia was an 85 percent match to Winfrey's niece, the daughter of the firstWinfrey sister, also named Patricia, who died in 2003.
The revelation is the latest in the saga of Winfrey'scomplicated and fraught life story, which has includedchildhood abuse, teenage pregnancy and rumours of lesbianism.
After more than two decades on TV, Winfrey is now oneof the most successful women in the world with a fortuneestimated at $2.7 billion.
"Yes, it is true. It is true that my mother is alsoPatricia's birth mother. That means Patricia is my half sisterwho I never knew existed," said Winfrey.
"Imagine my shock just a few months ago, at the end ofOctober, when I found out I have another sister living just 90minutes away. For the most part, my life has been an open bookand on the show I think I've seen about everything. And Ithought nothing could surprise me anymore, but let me tell youI was wrong."
"It was one of the greatest surprises of my life. Itleft me speechless," said Winfrey.
The chat show host met her sibling for the first timeon Thanksgiving day last year and said that the revelation"shocked her core".
Winfrey's mother Vernita Lee gave up Patricia foradoption shortly after her birth in 1963.
The 56-year-old billionaire has now met up with herhalf-sister, who is a single mother from Milwaukee, and thetwo were reunited with their mother for the first time asadults on the show, reported Daily Mail online.
Lee put the child up for adoption because she wantedto get off welfare and knew that if she had another child itmight not be possible.
Winfrey said that at the time she was eight and livingwith her father, and did not even know her mother waspregnant.
Winfrey told how Patricia had been trying to identifyher mother for years until she saw Lee in a TV interviewmention details that coincided with what she knew of her birthfamily.
Patricia got in touch with her half-sister at herproduction company in Chicago, which led to Winfreyconfronting her mother who confessed all.
DNA tests also confirmed that Patricia was an 85 percent match to Winfrey's niece, the daughter of the firstWinfrey sister, also named Patricia, who died in 2003.
The revelation is the latest in the saga of Winfrey'scomplicated and fraught life story, which has includedchildhood abuse, teenage pregnancy and rumours of lesbianism.
After more than two decades on TV, Winfrey is now oneof the most successful women in the world with a fortuneestimated at $2.7 billion.
"Yes, it is true. It is true that my mother is alsoPatricia's birth mother. That means Patricia is my half sisterwho I never knew existed," said Winfrey.
"Imagine my shock just a few months ago, at the end ofOctober, when I found out I have another sister living just 90minutes away. For the most part, my life has been an open bookand on the show I think I've seen about everything. And Ithought nothing could surprise me anymore, but let me tell youI was wrong."
"It was one of the greatest surprises of my life. Itleft me speechless," said Winfrey.
