Oprah: I Thought Of Committing Suicide Over Teen Pregnancy (VIDEO)

In her interview with CNN's Piers Morgan, Oprah revealed that her pregnancy at 14 led her to think about committing suicide.

The interview aired on Monday night; it was the first episode of Morgan's new show, "Piers Morgan Tonight."

Oprah said that she had started having suicidal thoughts after being sent to live with her father. In Oprah's telling, her father told her, "I would rather see a daughter of mine floating down the Cumberland River than to bring shame on this family and indecency of an illegitimate child."

"So I'm thinking I'm just going to have to kill myself," she said.

"Did you come close to doing that?" Morgan asked.

"No," Oprah said. "You know, I did stupid things like drinking detergent and that crazy stuff that you do when you are trying to get attention when you are really just trying to cry for help...you know, when I was 14, your life is over. You are having a baby out of wedlock. Your life is over. When the baby died--the baby was never brought home from the hospital and the baby died--I knew that it was my second chance."

WATCH:

Comments

[Southrnbelle]

06:36 AM on 01/20/2011

I was suicidal at 11, Honey. Love ya, but, get in line.

[John McIntosh]

05:32 AM on 01/20/2011

Oh, who didn't, at 14, think about suicide? I mean, in the vast majority of people, teenage suicidal ideation is sort of a rite of passage, isn't it?

[monasomalia]

10:13 PM on 01/19/2011

That is the reason Oprah she never gonne have again babe in her own...never

[GoJacks]

03:50 PM on 01/19/2011

I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal about her saying the death of the child was a second chance for her. If I got pregnant at 14, I would have been devastated and if the baby died, that would have been equally traumatic, but I would have looked at it as a sign to get on the right track and never make the same mistake...a second chance.

Saying that it was a second chance is not saying "yay, the baby died."

[MMMMarilyn]

11:50 PM on 01/18/2011

Sorry. I just read the baby dies,
How convenient.

[harlan78]

09:40 PM on 01/18/2011

While I don't care for her public persona, it is right to feel empathy in regard to her past. Let's do the same for Bristol Palin.

[MMMMarilyn]

11:57 PM on 01/18/2011

It's Bristol's sanctimonious hypocritical mother that
caused he problems.
Put the blame where it belongs.

[NoSillyName]

08:56 PM on 01/18/2011

I wasn't pregnant, but I did attempt suicide at 15.

[glddraco]

08:15 PM on 01/18/2011

I've contemplated suicide more than a couple of times in my life but I always have pulled through and if it comes down to it I'll seek help for my mental illness.

[MMMMarilyn]

11:53 PM on 01/18/2011

Step. 1 GET OUT OF THE HOUSE.

Step 2 Tell yourself, IT WILL PASS

Step 3 Do not drink or do anything to cloud your ability to reason.

Step 4 CALL SOMEONE. You are never as alone as you feel you are.

Step 5 Do not suffer in silence.

Not necessarily in this order.

[barknasty]

07:08 PM on 01/18/2011

Think again!

[Celosia]

06:05 PM on 01/18/2011

Oh boo hoo. Read the book by Kitty Kelley that Oprah did everything to block because it told the real version of her life. I can't find a thimble full of empathy for this woman who has lied all her life. She only pretends to be black which is confirmed when you look at early photos and notice how much lighter she is now. The reason she loved MJ. He didn't want to be black either.

I don't care that she was a hooker and had a baby very young, did drugs and participated in group sex. Not unlike many a young persons life I've no doubt. But not good enough for this woman so she lied and pretended to be something she isn't. Oprah is a rude and invasive host and interviewer because to state the obvious, she's too interested in herself and always has been.

[darkday]

08:03 PM on 01/18/2011

Actually oprah's still extremely black without makeup and lighting. And I find her pretty honest. She's confessed all the dirt in her past. She tells too much actually

[atti]

08:30 PM on 01/18/2011

I thought she was a victim of incest?

[anpu]

05:46 PM on 01/18/2011

Is there anything Oprah has not done?

[MMMMarilyn]

11:58 PM on 01/18/2011

Had a Jewish child with Mel Gibson.

[springsm]

04:09 PM on 01/18/2011

Well O, I thought about it with detail at age 18...the age where lots is changing for a student.  And I was a healthy kid with a good family and support group.  I wouldn't doubt that most teenagers give this idea more than a passing thought in their teens or early 20s.  I am glad I didn't but I didn't drive by that spot for a long time without getitng the willies. I am so very sorry for people who do not have a way out. 

[Jazmo]

02:18 PM on 01/18/2011

I don't know why we have all these interview shows. The guests all say the same thing on each show. If Oprah were going to do some big "reveal" dollars to donuts it would be on her own show, not on this guy's or Barbara Walters.

[Denni]

02:16 PM on 01/18/2011

I didn't see the interview, but it does make you sad to think that the boys who are partly responsible go home and no one ever has to know what they've done, and we're in a society that largely doesn't care what they've done. She was a young girl in a time when only the girl was blamed and the death of a child was considered a 'second chance'. Not too much has changed. I'm glad she got beyond her father's anger. She's done a lot of good in the world.

[LittleOldLadyWho]

02:28 PM on 01/18/2011

And yet--there she is!!  Doing what she wants to do, from working hard to get it, with the respect of millions of people, and globally.  How many trips has she made to Africa to bring food, shoes and books!

Change the channel, you are free to do so.