Oprah’s guest, Bridget B., a woman who sued her allegedly gay or bisexual husband for 12 million dollars after he reportedly infected her with HIV, almost had me in her corner. That is, until she made the jaw-dropping - stupefying announcement that she was pregnant.
Bridget told Oprah a pitiful tale of betrayal; a heartbreaking narrative of deception, topped off with a potentially deadly disease - HIV.
And who wouldn’t respond to that?
But when Bridget announced that she was pregnant, and Oprah failed to rise to the occasion by asking the question that many of her viewers wanted to ask Bridget, “Girl, WTF did you just say?!”, I almost threw my wine glass through my plasma TV!
For nearly 40 minutes, Oprah seemed to revel in the endless opportunities to paint gay sex as “vile”; and Down Low sex as a black, gay thing. But when it came to confronting a woman who is HIV+, on public assistance, having unprotected sex, and purposely got pregnant - Ms. O’ didn’t have a friggin’ word to say!
Since Oprah didn’t have the media-balls to ask the question, I will! What kind of woman would knowingly put a child in a life-threatening situation, in order to fulfill her own needs? A situation, she herself, called “life-changing”. I’ll tell you what kind… a selfish, neurotic one!
I cannot believe that an intelligent woman would do to a child, what someone allegedly did to her. Please. Tell me. How is Bridget B. any different than the husband she sued? And why didn’t Oprah, a woman who claims to love children, rip Bridget B. a new one when she proudly announced that she was potentially passing on a deadly disease to her unborn child?!
This show left me utterly disgusted. Excuse me. I’m going to take a bath now.
i just stayed up watching the re-airing of the show and i just heard bridget say she was pregnant and almost screamed!!!! WHY THE HELL WOULD ANY MAN HAVE UNPROTECTED SEX W/A WOMAN WHO HAS HIV...I don't understand that and I think Oprah was shocked b/c she didn't even ask follow up questions!! Even with less than 1% chance that your child would have AIDS - how in the world could you say you did it the old fashioned way.
ReplyDeleteExactly. Bridget B.'s announcement left me flummoxed. And I can't believe Oprah didn't ask any follow up questions. There definitely needs to be a Part 2 to that show.
ReplyDeleteWait a minute! Plenty of HIV+ women have babies who are not positive. Who are you people to judge this woman? She has every right to have a family if she wants one.
ReplyDeleteI have more issues with Bridget B. than with her first husband. Oprah probably backed off because of her earlier out-burst and pink rage over being compared to Magic Johnson. This woman was full of sickening and shocking contradictions. Maybe if she had sued the Doctor who seemed to be covering up for her husband, she could have actually recouped some dollars. There are many elderly people in this country who take medications more than twice a day with describing it as hell. I was offended by the fact that she still doesn't practice safe sex and would endanger the life of a child after also stating that she receives public assistance.
ReplyDeleteTHANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you wrote this article! You said everything I wanted to say and more. This show was sickening, offensive, and way off the mark.
I watched the show and yes it was quite shocking to hear that she was carrying a child. After reading this artcle, I was compelled to respond because I felt it was extremely judgmental. It's always easy for people to judge people and their behavior especially when they are not in the persons shoes. Me personally, I think she could have taken the surrogate mother route but she didn't. And really what did you want Oprah to do blast her publically when this woman had obviously gone through so much already? Would that have made you feel better? If the doctor and God allowed it, maybe it was for good reason...who knows?
ReplyDeleteShe is the victim here and not her Ex-Husband . People needs not to put other people lives at risks . Put yourself into her shoes and see how it feels . This is a man who knew what he was doing before he met Bridget . Who knows if he had HIV long before he met Bridget ? It is just sad to see that people will not take responsibility for their actions . People blame others for their problem forgetting to blame the one person who started it all , themselves .
ReplyDeleteSo, I think we should give Bridget a lot of credit for coming on Oprah and share her story with the world . We learn from other people stories .Only God knows how many women like Bridget that are out there .
I watched the show yesterday and felt that she could have handle the Magic Johnson comparison in a more respectful way than she did. But what bothered me the most, for some reason, was when she revealed that she was having a baby after just saying she was on public assistance. She just implied that life was hard and costly living with HIV, why bring a baby into that? I had compassion for her up until that point.
ReplyDeleteShe was the victim of her ex-husband, why should that destroy her life...a woman who is hiv + who takes her preventative medication has a less than 2% chance of passing it onto her baby...there is a greater risk of several other fatal genetic disorders.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate all of your opinions, and you have all made very valid points. But when it comes to bringing a child into the world, one must consider more than their need to have a baby.
ReplyDeleteAccording to Bridget's own words, she is having a hard time supporting herself. Why bring a child into the picture? And even though she won a 12 million dollar settlement, she may never see a dime of that money.
Furthermore, a 1 or 2% chance of passing HIV on to her child may seem low. But there's still the chance that she might infect her child. Why gamble with another life? Isn't that the same thing her husband did to her?
I am glad not to be the only one that found her pregnancy shocking and disgusting. She has no right knowing of her HIV status to chance passing that on to another human being. It is so unfair and selfish. Life is not fair. It is unfortunate that she contracted HIV. However, why continue to be unfair and present risk and potentially set up an unfair life for a baby?
ReplyDeleteI also find it odd that she would allow someone to have unprotected sex with her while she has HIV. No matter how much a man loved me, if I have HIV I would not allow him to take that risk. Love, for most does not last forever. The possible infection is lifetime.
I also had empathy and sympathy until she said she was pregnant. Oprah should have asked her follow up questions but I do believe that she was in a state of shock and did not want to upset this "crazy" woman again.
TRUST ME. THERE IS SOMETHING MENTALLY WRONG WITH THAT CHICK!
ReplyDeleteShe is on HIV medications and is in the care of a doctor who will make certain that the baby will not contract the virus...we are able to do this now. You assume her partner is not HIV+, an assumption I am not prepared to make; however, women, who are on their HIV medications are at relatively low risk of transmitting to a male insertive partner, as long as he is in good health, has no lesions or cuts in a particular area. I imagine that her statement about public assistance is that she is on Social Security Disability...and it is a struggle, but millions of people everyday have babies, regardless of if they can afford them...and you are not taking into consideration that this gentleman will be supporting the baby. Stop judging and look for information first before you make inflammatory comments about someone you do not know. I appreciated Bridget's forthrightness and giving a real perspective of what it is like for people living with the virus.
ReplyDeleteI feel that she has every right to have a child. Just because one is HIV+ does not mean they should not want the same things as HIV- women. As a HIV+ man myself there has been a lot of work done in the area of mother to child transmission and how to prevent it. I hope she has a very healthy baby, and that she moves forward with her life. If those making the negative comments about her would attempt to walk just a little bit in her shoes they might understand better why she is doing what she is doing.
ReplyDeleteseriously . . . please do your homework before you criticize someone else . . . people that live in glass houses shouldn't throw bricks!
ReplyDeleteyou people who are for this woman having a baby are insane! she is HIV POSITIVE. she could pass that mess on to her child. she is STILL doing it RAW! and she is on WELFARE! i know some people are fine with having babies they CANNOT afford, but where i'm from that's not cool.
ReplyDeleteand so what if she has a baby daddy. baby daddies leave. they sometimes don't pay child support. and what if bridget suddenly dies?
to that last person who commented, people who celebrate dysfunction shouldn't be allowed to comment!!!!!!!!
Ignorance is alive in well both in this article and in most of these reader comments. Get your facts together people before you start typing your clearly oblivious comments. There are many babies born to HIV positive mothers who are not infected. Just as there are many HIV positive people on HIV meds who do not infect their partners with HIV. It's really sad that ignorance outweighs compassion these days.
ReplyDeleteDo some research people they have meds to keep pregnant women from infecting there unborn child. In most cases hiv pregnant woman plan for children so they start taken meds early to help keep the child safe.
ReplyDeleteif hiv pos women wanted to keep their babies safe, they wouldn't have any! those meds are not a 100% guarantee that the child will not get infected! why take chances with some1 else's life? ain't that what her husband did to her?
ReplyDeleteWhat those defending her are failing to comprehend is that it is not just about her being HIV+. Many of us understand that the risk of the baby having HIV is minimal, what is horrifying (for me anyway) is that she has already stated she is struggling, yet is attempting to bring a child into this world. Forget that she is HIV+, the issue here is the irresponsibility in having a child she is not capable of financially supporting. She probably won't see a cent of that 12 million dollar settlement, so what gives her the idea that she is capable of taking care of this child? THAT'S what is dangerous.
ReplyDeletelet's all just pray that her child will be healthy and not be hiv+ and that she will continue to live as well as she can, so that she can raise her child.I will pray for her child and I hope you all will also.
ReplyDeleteI am not sure why she chose to have unprotected sex with her partner. If he was already HIV positive, that means that both parents may away earlier and leave this child an orphan. If he was not HIV positive, she put him at risk for contracting a DEADLY disease. I wish Oprah had asked more questions so we could understand why. She mentioned that she was in financial trouble and she felt very sick so I do not understand her reasoning for deciding to get pregnant (instead of considering other options, such as adoption). Also, I wonder if she has considered what would happen if this relationship does not work out; that would make it more difficult, since she is not married, and therefore would not get child support, and would have to raise a baby on her own in her condition. I am not judging her, I have a lot of questions and I wish Oprah would have dug deeper with this whole baby issue. I do wish her well and pray her partner and child do not contract HIV and that they all live long and healthy lives.
ReplyDeletePeople who feel like she should not have tried to conceive should also have a problem with people having children despite the fact that they have a reasonable chance of producing a child with dwarfism or crohn's disease. I myself think that if you know you could pass on something life-threatening or debilitating that you should adopt and stop being so selfish
ReplyDeleteThere is a wonderful concept called FAITH and I am sure that is what this pregnant HIV mother has a lot of! This woman is brave and chooses not to let this infection be a death sentence to her life and dreams of having a family. Let's trust that the medicines are effective and that transmission to partners and babies are low/impossible due to the effectiveness of the meds. Most of the responses are coming from hiv negative people who has NO idea how these treatments work. Use this situation as a learning tool, NONE of us are in the clear of not getting HIV so stop being judmental and try and learn from this woman and her bravery thru illness and poverty.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel how dare anyone pass judgement on this woman for however she choose to bring HER child into this world......H.I.V does not mean she shouldn't have a real life......publicc assistance so what what makes her wrong for. Having a baby in that situation an it ok for everyone else who is doing it....is it because she is HIV positive its a good think that everyone does wrong an only god can pass judgement ....amen
ReplyDeleteThis article, and all the comments in agreement with it, are completely ignorant. First off, this woman is on public assistance because her punk ass husband won't give her any of the $12million he owes her! Secondly, it is not her fault that she was infected with this terrible disease, and if you're going to talk about it, you should educate yourselves first. Many men and women are living with HIV today and can have wonderful, meaningful protected sex lives. As long as she notifies her sexual partners that she is infected and doesn't go around spreading it like her ex-husband decided to do, there is nothing wrong. As far as the child, there are medications now that pregnant women who are infected take to prevent their unborn child from contracting the disease. Cookie Johnson had two children post Magic's diagnosis and neither of them have the disease, and neither does she after all these years. Please educate yourself people before you try to sound intelligent. If you need some asstistance, don't worry, that's what I'm here for.
ReplyDeleteWell, I must say, I just finished watching the Oprah show about this (I tivo) and while there may be many new medications out there for dealing with and not passing HIV onto children, I'm not sure that it still can't be passed to a partner during unprotected sex even with the new medications. That kinda shocked me. Of course there is the chance that her partner is also HIV positive but, shame on Oprah for not following through on that. By not clarifying that, what Oprah basically did is set this woman up for some of the nasty comments that are already on this blog. Shame Shame Oprah! As far as her dying, many thousands of people live very long lives with HIV now days and the public assistant comment, hell, there are so many people on public assistance in this city that don't deserve to be , it's pathetic and a drain on the system. Many people figure out how to beat the system, this woman clearly needs it. So what if she's having a baby and is on public assistance, again, many many people have many many children with many many different fathers and are scamming the system as well. My only complaint is Oprah not following through.
ReplyDeleteNo doctor in his right mind would suggest that someone who is HIV - have unprotected sex with someone who is HIV + . Nor would a doctor suggest that two HIV + people have unprotected sex. Are you people aware that there are different strains of HIV? No wonder so many people are walking around infected. Almost 30 years later and people are still ignorant when it comes to the facts about HIV/AIDS!
ReplyDeleteOf course Oprah takes the side of any person she feels is a victim. Oprah is a viligante on a personal mission keeping herself from most likely perpetraiting harm on others, as her past with sex abuse and crack could lead her into rage otherwise, so she uses others persons tragedy or circumstance to quell and distract her psyche from inner turmoil.
ReplyDeleteOprah Winfrey also has a narrow minded, bias opinion of the nature to experience. Note the show does not go into the years of social and individual repression which leads homosexuals into practices that are hidden. Males in partciular for years , and this does not "go away", have been closeted, take DADT that is one perfect example of discrimination, the military allows people to die and risk their lives for "freedom" but excluded homosexuals from basic fundamental rights, which is injustice. That in itself is jarring- not to mention many are discussing "gay suicide" and how oppression can ruin or cause such dysfunction that young people kill themselves or take their own life. And Oprah thinks closeted men do not have a serious problem dealing with their life, gay rights is new, 10 years prior homosexuals had little to no rights.
The government should be sued. Oprah your a terribly unqualified one sided person. Were you worried about Stedman?
If Acai worked you'd be thin, woman...and more bad advice from Oprah and Dr.Oz -taking aspirin as directed by her "show" in the morning after drnking and having a hangover is toxic. In fact aspirin is known to cause stomache problems, compounded with residual digestive fluids and alcohol is no good.
Hi:
ReplyDeleteWell, this is a STRONG/SHOCKING thing!
I saw the program today - Oprah is very 'wanted'/known in my country...
About this woman, Bridget ?: yeah, a terrible thing that she faced (well, she is still facing: but she seems better, I hope!).
I think she is right in 'reporting' things like that: it´s very dangerous having a partner (who knows where he/she has been, what have done?!).
And this woman reminded Sarah Jessica Parker, or any actress!
Mrs Bridget (...): I thank you for your COURAGE: unfortunately, people like your ex-husband (sorry for being honest) exist in lots of places! And I hope your 'future' daughter is ok, far from these BAD THINGS!
Lots of luck,
Rodrigo Rosa (Brazil)
http://rodrigo-arte.blogspot.com/
this is not the 80's and the world is changing so please give support to mrs bridget i think you are courageous and a wonderful person to come out public about hiv status.
ReplyDeleteBridget seems like an intelligent women to me, and i bet she did all the necessary research before she and her parter became pregnant.LIVE LIFE ,LOVE LIFE AND LONG LIFE.
ReplyDeleteWho said they had unprotected sex? it's called artificial insemination or IVF. These are two very likely possibilities. Also there are anti viral drugs you can take to reduce the chances of HIV being passed onto the baby.
ReplyDeleteI was a victim of this sort of crime, the crime of non disclosure. My husband, an active duty Marine was HIV postivie and did not disclose this fact until after we were married. Then telling me, "now that we're married, whatever is bad for me it bad for you". There are many women out there that are victim of HIV within marriage. It took me years to get enough guts to finally tell someone, but when I did, there was the issue of how to prove it. So he got away with it and the military helped him. He married another women in Panama City Beach, FL and I so he continues his pattern.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said: "I was a victim of this sort of crime, the crime of non disclosure. My husband, an active duty Marine was HIV postivie and did not disclose this fact until after we were married"
ReplyDeleteI thought blood tests were required before marriage.
I think it is wrong for her to have sex with her boyfriend unprotected but she's pregnant now and she has to deal with that. And the boyfriend is stupid and maybe needs to sue her broke as_ if he doesnt have the virus. But people saying bad things about Oprah she is only human and is not perfect maybe after seeing the show she wished she would have asked more questions about it but she has a time schedule and probably was in shock by that admission. She has questions already prepared and may have been taken aback. Don't criticize Oprah just because she didn't ask more questions. I get tired of people talking bad about her she can never do anything right in some people's eyes.
ReplyDeleteSome of you people are missing the point...having a child is NOT about her...its about the child...she could easily die from this disease sometime soon and the child would then have no mother. She is incredibly self centered and foolish to have made this decision...women should realize that having a baby is about the baby's life more then it is about them.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, she clearly referred to the pregnancy as a "surprise" so it doesn't sound like this was planned. Birth control fails. Sometimes pre-menopause fails too. She looks older and may have thought for some reason that she was past child-bearing years. And maybe she does not believe in abortion soooo, what's she supposed to do? I can understand the shock, but how can you judge when you don't know all of the details?
ReplyDeleteFurther, her partner may be HIV positive as well - not that it matters. If he chooses to sleep with her either way, that was his choice.
I noticed that when she made the announcement no one clapped and Oprah wasn't classic in her response. I would have tore that woman a new one. I do not think what she is doing is correct but could you only imagine what her life must be like?
ReplyDeleteHow many of us could love a person so much as to be with or sleep with an HIV+ person. She is so fortunate and I hope that she has a healthy baby and a wonderful life. I thank God that I am not in her shoes and have to make such a decision you stone throwers should also be grateful.
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