Oprah Winfrey Once Opened Up About Losing Her Premature Baby at 14: "I Named Him.."

Oprah Winfrey once disclosed that she decided against marrying and having children with Stedman Graham, her longtime partner. “I have not had one regret about that," she said in an interview with People in 2019. But behind this decision was a myriad of trauma. Earlier in 2015, the multibillionaire media magnate opened up about the same during a speech in Australia's Rod Laver Arena. "I interviewed with a reporter before I came to Australia and she said you should name the baby son who died," Winfrey, revealed to the 15,000-strong crowd. "So I have named him. I had a little boy named Canaan... I did have a son. And I named him Canaan because Canaan means new land, new life," as reported by News.com.au.

The Oscar winner elaborated, recounting the horrific sexual abuse she faced as a child. "I was raped at 9 years old by a cousin, then again by another family member and another family member," Winfrey said, stating that she felt so much 'pain and shame' that she attempted to conceal her pregnancy at the age of 14. Winfrey revealed that her premature son passed away in the hospital a few weeks after she gave birth to him.

According to People, in 1990, a family member disclosed the details of her concealed pregnancy and loss to the media, which left the Emmy winner devastated. "I took to my bed and cried for three days. I felt devastated. Wounded. Betrayed. How could this person do this to me?" she stated in O (the magazine), in the February 2007 issue.

As per a different People report, although Winfrey did not identify the relative at the time, the Associated Press said it was Patricia Lloyd, her half-sister. “Sat in a room, told them the story of my hidden shame, and left their offices $19,000 richer,” Winfrey wrote in her live journal at that time. She expressed, “Only my family and closest friends knew. I would tell no one until I felt safe enough to share my dark past: the years I was sexually abused, from age 10 to 14, my resulting promiscuity as a teenager, and finally, at 14, my becoming pregnant.”

The talk show host was concerned that if people found out about her dark past, it might hurt her career. "I imagined that every person on the street was going to point their finger at me and scream, 'Pregnant at 14, you wicked girl…expelled!'" But when the story finally went public, Winfrey claimed she felt liberated. "And I soon realized that having the secret out was liberating," she wrote. "What I learned for sure was that holding the shame was the greatest burden of all." She concluded, “No one said a word…not strangers, not even people I knew. I was shocked. Nobody treated me differently. For 20 years, I had been expecting a reaction that never came."