From People
Kerry Washington is opening up about a startling revelation regarding her parents.
In her new memoir, Thicker Than Water, the 46-year-old Scandal star shares that she recently learned that her father, Earl Washington, is not her biological father. It's news that sent her on her current journey of self-discovery.
"It really turned my world upside down," Washington tells PEOPLE in next week's issue.
The actress explains that she discovered the family secret shortly after she told her parents she was planning to appear on Henry Louis Gates Jr.’s Finding Your Roots, a PBS series where celebrities learn about their ancestors through DNA testing.
Having held onto the secret for decades, Washington's mom, Valerie, a professor, and dad, Earl, a real estate agent, had a private conversation with Gates, who told them it was always best for families to discuss such revelations privately prior to filming. What came next, says Washington, was a text message from her parents inviting her to a family sit-down in the spring of 2018.
"When I got this information, I was like, 'Oh. I now know my story,'" says the star, who recalls feeling a sense of relief at the news after long feeling her parents were keeping things from her and that something was missing. "I didn't know what my story was, but I was playing the supporting character in their story."
Washington says she kept her calm and asked a lot of questions while trying to give her parents grace in what was clearly a difficult moment for them. She learned that they'd opted to use an anonymous sperm donor to help conceive after struggling with fertility issues. They admitted they had all but decided never to tell her.
"I think that dissonance of like, 'Somebody is not telling me something about my body.' made me feel like there was something in my body I had to fix," she says of struggling for years with anxiety, self-esteem issues, and an eating disorder when she was young. She now feels those might have been symptoms of subconsciously sensing her parents' secret.
17 comments:
“Discovered that her dad is actually a sperm donor” HOW DISRESPECTFUL YOU DONT KNOW THAT MAN SMH WHERE IS YOUR “SPERM DONOR” I BET YOU STILL DONT KNOW SMH. Don’t start “snitch” watch your mouth next time.
What's done in the dark ...
I knew Kerry Washington look like my uncle Harold.
Well he obviously was a smart Black man. Look at Kerry.
DAmn *Kevin*
Interesting story. Wait until her kids find out that the rumors are true, her husband isn't their father. Her Scandal co-star is.
They had misfires and finally found a solution that worked. Good for them.
What's up with the secrets
That’s deceitful. They would have went to their graves with that secret had she not inquired about her family history. Really deceitful.
A lot of folks kept secrets back in the day to attempt to protect their children. Its a good thing she found out before both her parents passed. Finding out later may have caused more painful questions. But, their explanation for taking the approach of getting an anonymous donor is totally reasonable. They wanted a baby, traditionally conceived or not.
My mom found out something similar on my grandmas death bed. She thought the man that raised her from a few months old was her father. But, her real father abandoned her and left the country when they hit hard tines directly after coming to this country. In the 1950’s, a lie like that was totally normal as to not bring shame to the family and appear like normal, a two parent home. Folks didn’t expect DNA to be a thing and when it did become a thing, that it would be so easily accessible with at-home test kits through the mail.
But, these days, you cant do that shit. As soon as kids learn about how babies are made, they should learn their story if it’s not the usual way (IVF, sperm or egg donor, or adoption). It doesn’t make the child any less yours if you’re the legal guardian. I have two adopted children in our family and they’ve always known but we also don’t harp on it. They’re just the miracles that came to us in a different way and thank God for that.
^^^^^^
Every parent says that. They were just trying to protect the child. Kerry is a full grown woman and was a full grown woman who didn’t know her father wasn’t her father until she said she was doing a heritage test. I don’t expect Kerry to scream and yell at them however in a different context, it is still deceitful and really selfish.
Deceitful, yes. Selfish, no. Eff those DNA kits and whoever invented them. It's none of my children's business who I'd been creeping with back in the day. As long as Daddy knows, it's fine.
^^^That’s some bullsh-t. Your child needs to know where its dna comes from. Secrets and lies sink families.
5:43 PM, True that.
The story goes he was a drunk. He wasn't hitting mom off properly. Drunk D is no D. Something that makes me go MMMMMmmmm when did black folks start using sperm banks? lOLO
I'm sorry this secret was kept from Kerry. I don't think it was the cause of her problems (eating disorders, self esteem issues) but the secret fed into her insecurities.
But like it or not, this is Black love. Errything was done out of a love for Kerry and each other. Good luck to all of them.
Mamm needs to let that blonde hair go. But mamma and daddy jive look alike.
@5:23 PM
Parents don't do this to protect their kids. They lie like this to cover up their shame. How many mother's don't know who their child's paternity because they were entertaining more than one man? Those mother's and fathers, don't want their kids to know that they are the product of their parent's whorish ways.
As for infertility, if the reason for her lineage is based on the fact that her father is sterile, that is the perfect reason to be HONEST. They wanted your child so badly, They went to a sperm donor to get one. I see no shame in that. NONE.
Post a Comment
Commenting Rules: Please watch your language. Disguise curse words if you must use them and do not threaten or attack other commenters.
Comments violating the rules will be deleted.