Oprah Secret Revealed; Long Lost Half Sister, Patricia; Not a Massive Deal to the Rest of the World

After days of building up her secret, a secret that she says rocked her to her core, Oprah finally revealed on the January 24, 2011 show that she has a half sister named Patricia. Oprah, drama queen extraordinaire, says she chose to reveal this information on TV rather than have the media get a hold of it and tell untruths. And, of course, her new half sister was a guest on her show.

Vernita Lee is Oprah and Patricia's mother. Patricia was given up for adoption in 1963 when she was born. Vernita kept the pregnancy and adoption a secret.

Patricia and her son put the pieces of the puzzle together in 2007 after seeing an interview with Vernita Lee. She tried in a variety of ways to contact Oprah or someone in her family, but had no luck until late in 2010.

Oprah and Steadman drove to Milwaukee last Thanksgiving to meet Patricia for the first time. In her normal center-of-attention style, Oprah videotaped and aired the entire event.

Oprah had a very private discussion with her mother, Vernita Lee, regarding some delicate issues surrounding this new discovery of Oprah's half sister. An emotional Patricia was present during this discussion. Among other things, Oprah asked her mother why she kept Patricia's birth and adoption a secret and how she feels now that Patricia is reunited with them. Oprah preceded the conversation by saying that her mother just had a mild stroke and that her speech was slow. But guess what? Oprah videotaped this entire interview and aired it for the world to see.

The fact that these families found each other is wonderful and heart warming. But the way Oprah handled it is questionable. First of all, as pleased as we are that this worked out well, this is not earth shattering news to much of the world. We all have our own lives and Oprah is just not as important to some of us as she thinks she is. And why did she feel the need to videotape her private and delicate conversation with her mother who had recently suffered a stroke? Could it be ratings? And the fact that Oprah taped her first meeting with her new half sister supports that rating theory as well.

Oprah we know you came from nothing and have made a name for yourself and are rich and known around the world. Massive accomplishment! And maybe that has swelled your head into feeling the need to be the center of attention all the time. But many of us work harder than you do and struggle to pay our bills. So watching you be so full of yourself is not a positive thing. And watching you exploit your family drama for ratings is actually a turn off.