Winfrey: Losing baby as a teen was 'my second chance'
January 17th, 2011
09:18 PM ET

Winfrey: Losing baby as a teen was 'my second chance'

In the inaugural interview on "Piers Morgan Tonight," talk show queen Oprah Winfrey recalled contemplating suicide at 14 because she was pregnant, and how she feels she was given a second chance when she lost the baby.

"I thought, 'Before the baby was born, I’m going to have to kill myself,' " she told Piers Morgan during the interview, which aired on CNN Monday night, citing the stigma of being an unwed mother at the time, and her father's view of unwed mothers.

[cnn-video url="http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/showbiz/2011/01/17/piers.oprah.baby.cnn"%5D

Her mother in Milwaukee sent her to live with her father in Nashville, and he didn't know she was pregnant.

"My father ... said to me as I'm standing in the kitchen listening to him, 'These are the rules of the house, you're going to obey the rules, you have a 10 o'clock curfew, and I would rather see a daughter of mine floating down the Cumberland River … than to bring shame on this family and the indecency of an illegitimate child.' "

She said she didn't come close to killing herself - "I did stupid things like drinking detergent and all that kind of crazy stuff that you do when you’re trying to get attention when you’re really just trying to cry for help," she said.

"But this is my 14-year-old self. I don't even know what I thought the plan was going to be. ... You're having a baby out of wedlock, your life is over. So when the baby died – the baby was never brought home from the hospital – when the baby died, I knew that it was my second chance.

"So I went back to school, and nobody knew. Because had anybody known at that time, I wouldn’t have been able to be head of student council. I wouldn’t have been able to be speaking champion in forensics. … I wouldn’t have been chosen as one of the two teenagers in the state of Tennessee to go to the White House conference on youth. None of those things would have happened, and the entire trajectory of my life would have been different."

She discussed the baby and the suicidal thoughts after being asked whether any part of her wondered what would have happened if the child had lived.

Winfrey also discussed how her heart was broken twice, why she is not one for marriage, what she intends for her fortune when she's gone, and how she wishes everyone would have a Gayle King in their life.

Morgan's show takes over CNN's 9 p.m. ET time slot from longtime CNN host Larry King. The show's first week continues with Howard Stern on Tuesday and former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday.

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Filed under: Celebrity
soundoff (393 Responses)
  1. DJ

    Oprah is very selfish!

    January 17, 2011 at 9:45 pm | Report abuse |
    • quentin

      and you're a moron.

      January 17, 2011 at 9:55 pm | Report abuse |
  2. A Walton

    What a horrible example for young people. Happy that the baby died. Twisted thinking.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:45 pm | Report abuse |
    • Luce

      But if you were in that position you would be happy too. Admittt it.

      January 17, 2011 at 10:21 pm | Report abuse |
  3. Jack

    Oprah would wish that all you haters had had a better childhood. She had a horrendous upbringing but made something magnificent of her life. And you can, too.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse |
  4. Craig

    I expected much more. It's more like a chat with Piers, rather than an interview. Opra ran it. He was intimidated by her. Dick Cavett or David Frost he aint.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse |
  5. citizen123

    She went from that at 14 to what she is now, one of the wealthiest and most influential figures of our time. That is so uncommon and so remarkable. It says so much about her and also about this great country. Other comments preceding this is just one of the regular heaps of garbage that's so common today.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:46 pm | Report abuse |
  6. dont_care

    There is still time, maybe when her crapy network fails she will go through with it.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:47 pm | Report abuse |
  7. Tim

    Piers Morgan, you pandering wuss! I've been looking forward to this show for months and this is what I get; a giggly version of Larry King! You were supposed to be British! You were supposed to loathe celebrity! FAIL!

    January 17, 2011 at 9:47 pm | Report abuse |
  8. tcaros

    Oprah has some defects that she hides very well. There's her personal life which she fooled everyone into this "Steadman" crapola. She's very likely a Lesbian. Which would explain her hateful bias against men, especially at the beginning of her career.
    –
    I think Oprah is a tremendous fake just like Dr. Spock was in regard to raising children.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:47 pm | Report abuse |
  9. anna

    I think oprah is a poor a exuse ofa human being for trying to kill her self and her unborn baby who didnt have a chance to live????

    January 17, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
  10. Larry

    Could Piers Morgan be kissing Oprah's butt any more than he's already doing? I thought he was supposed to be hard hitting, but he's comparing Oprah to royalty. Please.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
  11. Stephanie

    Yeah, Oprah, good thing your baby's dead. >_<

    She made that sound awful.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
  12. Jack

    Oprah needs some attention. I guess she feels she hasn't got enough these past years.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:48 pm | Report abuse |
  13. hanna

    And why are people being so rude on the comments?
    Glad to see suicide and unwanted pregnancy is a joke to people...not!
    Get a life people.

    January 17, 2011 at 9:49 pm | Report abuse |
  14. Ashley

    Did she ever consider the fact that the baby died b/c SHE WAS DRINKING LAUNDRY DETERGENT!?

    January 17, 2011 at 9:49 pm | Report abuse |
    • lara

      Best comment here, imo.

      January 17, 2011 at 9:57 pm | Report abuse |
  15. Tanya

    How boring! Piers is like a giddy, giggly child, totally smitten with Oprah! Please bring Larry King back!

    January 17, 2011 at 9:49 pm | Report abuse |
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