Awesome - Woman Discovered She Is Related to A Cultural Icon. She Never Imagined He Would Do This

DNA Doesn’t Lie

As Oprah’s niece was looking at the adoption records, she still couldn’t believe what was going on in front of her. It was a lot to take in. To help the niece accept it, Patricia convinced her that a DNA test is a certain way to prove the relation. DNA doesn’t lie, right?


Vernita Lee and Patricia Lofton. Source: Twitter / YouTube

The DNA results came back positive, just as Patricia suspected. Her journey to finding the truth about her biological family was finally starting to pay off. When she saw the DNA test, it hit Patricia as well. She is actually the sister of one of the biggest icons of the century. But there is more to the story…













Telling Oprah

After Patricia made this unbelievable discovery, the news started to spread around the Winfrey family. It didn’t take long for all the relatives to talk about their new family members through email. However, they chose to keep the news in the family for now… at least until Oprah found out.


Oprah, her niece Alisha Hayes, and Patricia. Source: Pinterest

From the beginning, Patricia strongly felt like it should be Vernita Lee’s responsibility to break the news about her daughter. After all, she was the one who gave her up. Patricia herself wasn’t going to sell the story to the press. She decided to remain loyal to her new sister and family. The entire family agreed but decided that Oprah needed to know. So how did she react?



Confronting Mama

When she heard Patricia Lofton’s story, Oprah was obviously intrigued. I mean, she had reunited various family members for years, all on national television. Now, this scenario is happening to her. But was it really true? Does Oprah actually have a long-lost sister? I mean, many people would pretend to be Oprah’s sister to get the benefits that come with it.


Oprah and Vernita Lee in 1966. Source: Twitter

Oprah wanted to do some research of her own, and she went straight to the source, her mother. When she confronted Vernita Lee, she straight up denied the whole thing. But Oprah wasn’t buying it. Like her half-sister, Oprah wanted the truth. She soon got it from an unlikely source.


Lights, Camera, Action!

It was a chilly October day, and Oprah Winfrey was in her story getting ready to take the stage. That’s when she remembered that she had asked her assistant to look into Patricia Lofton’s claims. What did she find? Was there even anything to find? Or did this woman make up the whole thing for money or something?



Oprah and Vernita Lee in 1994. Photo by MediaPunch / Shutterstock

Just before walking out on stage, she asked her assistant if she managed to track down any information about Patricia. It was the moment of truth. She was about to find out the truth about the secrets in her very own family tree. She was anxiously waiting for an answer.


The Undeniable Truth

Her assistant looked Oprah straight in the eye and simply said yes. It was true, Patricia Lofton was her long-lost half-sister. She was adopted years ago when her mom Vernita Lee gave her up. Oprah was shocked and couldn’t believe it. I mean, why would her mom lie about that? Lie to all of them?



Photo by Theo Kingma / Shutterstock

Oprah wanted to confront her mother with all the facts on the table. Finally, Vernita admitted the truth. She explained that she gave Patricia up for adoption in 1963, shortly after she was born. She confessed to everything. Even though Oprah was still in complete shock, she couldn’t wait to meet her sister.



Meeting the Fam

But Patricia felt she had some unfinished business before she was ready to meet her sister. She still wanted to meet her mom first. So for the third and last time, she reached out to Vernita, and she finally agreed to meet her one on one. After all this time, she was about to meet the woman who gave birth to her.



Source: YouTube

But what was different this time, what changed her mind? Maybe it was the fact that Oprah was involved, or because the truth was already out in the open. This would be their first reunion since Patricia was born. Needless to say, this was one emotional encounter.


Family Resemblance

The meeting appropriately happened on Thanksgiving. Patricia and Oprah both drove to their mom’s home in Milwaukee to see each other for the first time. They were both excited and filled with anticipation, but Patricia got to the house first. When Oprah Winfrey first looked at Patricia, she exclaimed, “You look just like Pat!”


Patricia, Vernita, and Oprah. Source: YouTube

The talk-show icon was referring to her sister, who passed away years earlier. They were both stunned, staring at each other, and then cuddling up in a long emotional hug. It was just as heartwarming as you’d expect when two long-lost sisters meet for the first time. But the story doesn’t end there.











Catching Up

After decades apart, the two sisters finally met face to face. Patricia and Oprah spent the entire day together, just getting to know one another. They had a whole lifetime to catch up on. Referring to a movie that depicts a daughter coming back from the dead, Winfrey said, “It was a beloved moment.”


Patricia and Oprah. Source: Pinterest

But it was more than just Patricia being Oprah’s sister. The two had a real connection and a true appreciation for one another. I can only imagine what it was like to see each other after all this time. There was more to this crazy story that really caught Oprah Winfrey’s attention, and it worked out in Patricia’s favor.











The World Meets Patricia

Just a few months after her Thanksgiving meeting with her sister, Oprah Winfrey, and her birthmother mother, Vernita Lee, Patricia was about to embark on an unbelievable experience. Oprah was about to bring Patricia on the Oprah Winfrey Show” so that she can introduce her “new” sister to the world.


Patricia and Oprah. Source: Flickr

This whole situation was a roller coaster for Patricia Lofton. She was searching for her birth mother for decades, and then she found out that her sister was a pop culture icon. The story wasn’t over there. Oprah wanted to do more for her sister, but Patricia didn’t feel like she deserved all of this.











Loving Sisters

The journey was a dream come true for Patricia. It was something Patricia had wished for every night since she was a little girl. Finally, she met her biological mother and family. On top of her sister being the extremely famous Oprah Winfrey, the two formed a real bond and trusted each other.


Photo by George Burns / Oprah

Clearly, the talk-show host was impressed with her sister. Patricia didn’t really know what she did or didn’t do to win over Oprah’s attention, but she didn’t think much of it. She just felt like she was following her heart and doing the right thing. I’m sure you’re wondering what exactly that is.











Oprah Values Loyalty

The thing about Patricia which really impressed Oprah was how she handled this whole ordeal, particularly the story. She could have easily sold the story to the press, but when she didn’t, she proved her loyalty to Oprah. Winfrey explained, “There have been a few times I’ve been anywhere, and I haven’t been sold out.”


Source: Pinterest

She continues to state, “There have been few times where you can bring anyone new into your life and not have that person in some way betray you or use you or take advantage of you.” Now, with all this exciting news, many questions needed some answers.











What’s with all the Lies?

Both sisters were still confused by their mother’s actions. Like, why did Vernita keep the Patricia and the entire adoption a secret? After she made the difficult decision back in 1963, she didn’t tell a single soul. She kept it to herself and didn’t even tell her children that they had a half-sister.


Vernita Lee and Oprah Winfrey. Source: Twitter / @Oprah

Then, when her daughter tried to track her down decades later, Vernita didn’t respond. What was her reasoning for ignoring her? Even when the facts were right in front of her, she went on to deny it. Why? The situation seemed shady. Well, it was only a matter of time before the shocking answers would come out.











A Mother’s Guilt

During a taped interview, Vernita Lee finally answered those questions. The mother stated, “I thought it was a terrible thing that I had done.” She went on to explain that at the time she got pregnant, she was just unable to care for another child and get off on welfare. She just felt bad about giving up her baby.


Source: Instagram / @oprahmagazine

But she added, “I did think about the baby. I went back looking for her, and they told me she had left.” But it was after this statement when Vernita admitted something that really touched Patricia’s heart. It was something she never heard before, and it brought tears to her eyes.











A Cute Little Girl

Patricia got chills at the next thing Vernita said in the interview. She called her a “cute little girl.” It was a compliment that Patricia never really heard before, and the fact that it came from her biological mother made the statement even more special and emotional. It was so natural for my mom to call me a cute little girl all the time, so I never realized that not everybody gets that.


Source: YouTube

As she tried to hold back her tears, Patricia said, “I am just trying to take it all in right now, because I never heard that I was a pretty baby.” But that wasn’t the end of it. Patricia finally received something that she has been waiting for her entire life.











Benefits From Oprah!

Three years after Oprah introduced Patricia to the world as her half-sister on her talk show, Patricia’s life was about to change yet again. This time, drastically. Of course, finding her biological family and her famous sister was huge, but something bigger was about to come.


Patricia’s new home. Source: Pinterest

In 2014, Oprah bought her long-lost sister a half a million-dollar home in Wisconsin, but she didn’t stop there; this is Oprah we’re talking about! She decided to give Patricia a monthly allowance so that she could go back to college and follow her dreams of becoming a social worker. Wow, that is so sweet! She couldn’t have gotten a better half-sister!











Congrats Sis!

Soon after, Patricia began attending the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. She never thought she would be able to go to college and was forever grateful to her sister for giving her this opportunity. As you may have guessed, this wasn’t the end of Oprah’s generosity. Another emotional surprise was in store on the day of Patricia’s graduation.


Source: Instagram / @Oprah

She finally accomplished her goal of graduating from college when she was 53-years old. That’s when she noticed her sister cheering in the crown and tweeting about the event. While they were able to share happy moments together, they were also by each other’s side in more difficult times as a real family, as we’ll see next.











For Better, and For Worse

The key to Oprah Winfrey and Patricia Lofton’s family relation is their mother, Vernita Lee, but, sadly, she passed away on Thanksgiving 2018. She was 83 years old. Winfrey honored her mother in true Oprah style with pictures of family members surrounding Vernita.


Source: Instagram / @Oprah

The talk-show host later took to Instagram, “Thank you all for your kind words in condolences regarding my mother Vernita Lee’s passing. It gives our family great comfort knowing she lived a good life and is now at peace.” It was a difficult day for everyone, but Winfrey hosted a dinner at her home that day. She was just happy to have her sister by her side.