1.750446-2827429761
Oprah Winfrey is shown during a segment of an episode of ‘Master Class’ from the new Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN). Her network began broadcasting on January 1. Image Credit: Reuter

Chicago: Oprah Winfrey says she recently learned she has a half-sister she never knew about.

Winfrey announced on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" that aired on Monday that a Milwaukee woman named Patricia discovered that the two were half-sisters.

The woman says she had been searching for years for the identity of the mother who gave her up for adoption in 1963.

She says she learned in 2007 that Winfrey was her half-sister. On her program, Winfrey says she learned about Patricia last November.

Winfrey says she was 9 years old and living with her father when her mother had the daughter and gave her up for adoption. She says she never even knew her mother was pregnant.

Winfrey says the two met on Thanksgiving day.

"I thought I'd seen it all. But this, my friends, is the miracle of all miracles," Winfrey had said in a promotional spot for the show on Thursday. The word "miracle" appeared on screen, reinforcing her pronouncement.

"I was given some news that literally shook me to my core. This time, I'm the one being reunited," she said. "I was keeping a family secret for months."