This is a really, really feel-good kind of story. Patricia Lofton, given up for adoption in 1963, spent her youth in foster homes before she was adopted out. Still, she never felt that she fitted in. She desperately wanted to connect with her biological family but got sidetracked raising a son and daughter as a single mom. She worked low paying jobs to keep food on the table, determined that she was going to well by her children Aquarius and Andre.
Finally, she contacted the adoption agency and asked to be put in touch with her biological mother. That request was refused, again and again. Her mother stonewalled her and refused to communicate. She combed through her adoption records and managed to track down a woman in Wisconsin that she thought she was related to.
Only thing was, this woman was multi-billionaire Oprah Winfrey's niece! The niece was, to say the least, skeptical. What happened next is the stuff that dreams are made of. Patricia Lofton had indeed come home to her family.
It's a happy story, with a happy ending.
DNA Tests, That Fateful Meeting
Patricia had carefully studied what records of her adoption the agency would provide. It gave her some leads, but it didn't come together until one day, Patricia saw a woman named Vernita Lee (Oprah's mother) on TV. She was talking about a daughter who had died and other family occurrences. It rang a bell with Patricia. She went back to her adoption records and the dates and occurrences lined up. That led her to the doorstep of TV personality and businesswoman Oprah Winfrey's niece. Of course, the woman was skeptical. The family is very protective of Oprah Winfrey.
But a DNA test confirmed that Patricia and the niece were indeed related. Family members' emails buzzed with the news. But who the heck was going to tell Oprah? Well, a brave family member plucked up the courage and told Oprah. Oprah is as big-hearted and compassionate a woman as you would ever want to meet. But she is also a billionaire a couple of times over and well-accustomed to people coming out of the woodwork making claims of ties to her. So, she did her own investigation. She talked to her mother, Vernita Lee who, out of shame, at first denied the story. Oprah dug deeper and came up with incontrovertible proof that Patricia Lofton was indeed her half-sister.
A tearful Vernita Lee admitted that she had given Patricia up for adoption because, as a mom on welfare, she felt she had no other choice.
The reunion of mother and daughter was a happy, tearful affair. More to the point, Oprah announced to the world she had found her long-lost half-sister on her TV show in 2011.
Patricia Proved Herself More Than Worthy
While acknowledging Patricia as her sister, Oprah played a wait-and-see game. She wanted to see what Patricia would do. Would she run to the tabloids to sell her story? Would she profit from her association with the most famous woman in the world? The answer to that was no. She kept a low profile, respecting Oprah's privacy, letting her take the lead in releasing news about her family. She continued to work at her fairly low paid job and stayed out of the limelight.
While son Andre had problems, Pat's daughter Aquarius entered med school.
By 2014, Oprah had made her mind up. She knew Patricia's dream was to go to college to study social work. And in 2014, she made that dream come true. She bought Patricia a $500,000 Wisconsin house, gave her an allowance so she could quit her job, and paid for her to go to the University of Wisconsin. Reportedly, none of Patricia's classmates knew that she was connected to Oprah. She was just another student. For her part, Oprah considered it money invested in a good cause.
Patricia worked hard and was a model student.
When The Penny Dropped
In December of 2017, Patricia graduated from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in social work. And guess who showed up to congratulate her? Her big sister Oprah. Her classmates were dumbfounded! They had no idea the unassuming Patricia was Oprah's half-sister.
Fast forward to Thanksgiving of 2018. The happy, family day was marred by the death of Vernita Lee. Oprah posted her family's thanks for the sympathy and support they had received from friends and family using a family picture taken before Vernita's death. And there was Patricia (far right) in the midst of the family she had looked for so long.
Reportedly, Patricia's last words to her mother were to tell her she should forgive herself for giving Patricia up. She had done it for the best of reasons.
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