Couples
Oprah Winfrey Reveals Name She Chose for the Baby Boy She Lost at Age 14
Oprah Winfrey is bravely opening up about a painful part of her past.
During an appearance in Australia earlier today, the 61-year-old media mogul revealed the name she chose for a premature baby boy she gave birth to and subsequently lost at age 14.
RELATED: Oprah Winfrey Hints She May Be Moving to Australia
"I did an interview with a reporter before I came to Australia and she said you should name the baby son who died," Oprah reportedly told an audience of 15,000 people at Rod Laver Arena, according to News.com.au.
https://www.instagram.com/p/OfJ8i-SS5u/
"So I have named him, I had a little boy named Canaan," she allegedly continued, without specifying the name's spelling. "I did have a son. And I named him Canaan because Canaan means new land, new life."
Oprah became pregnant at just 14-years-old after suffering sexual abuse during her childhood. She gave birth to her son in the late 1960s, and the baby sadly passed away in the hospital weeks later.
RELATED: Cha-Ching! Find Out How Oprah Winfrey Made a Whopping $70 Million in One Day
"I was raped at nine-years-old by a cousin, then again by another family member, and another family member," she reportedly said during her speech, adding she endured significant "pain and shame" from being a pregnant teen.
Oprah speaking in Australia on Wednesday, Dec. 2.
The news first broke that Oprah had lost a son in 1990 when one of her relatives unexpectedly revealed the story to the public. "I took to my bed and cried for three days. I felt devastated. Wounded. Betrayed. How could this person do this to me?" she previously wrote of the ordeal.
"I soon realized that having the secret out was liberating," she wrote in the February 2007 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine. "What I learned for sure was that holding the shame was the greatest burden of all."
