Barbara Walters Adopted a Child After 3 Miscarriages | Her Daughter “Made Her Life Complete”

Earlier this year, the world lost a remarkable journalist. Barbara Walters was one of the first women TV anchors who paved way for many others to follow in her footsteps. She won 12 Emmy Awards for her journalism during her 52-year career. Walters died aged 93 on December 30, 2022. She hoped to not only be remembered for her work in journalism but also as a mother. In her 2014 ABC retirement special Barbara Walters: Her Story, Walters reflected on motherhood and how she wanted to be remembered by her daughter Jacqueline Dena Guber.

"Oh, this is the toughest question," Walters admitted. "I want to be remembered by my daughter as a good and loving mother." It was during her second marriage with Lee Guber that she adopted Jacqueline, also known as Jackie, in June 1968. Walters had always wanted to be a mother but it wasn't possible. She had suffered three painful miscarriages and decided to choose adoption as a way to expand her family. 

"I very much wanted to have a child," she said. "I had three miscarriages, and finally, my husband Lee Guber and I adopted a baby girl. I knew that my sister was never going to be married and have a child, and I wanted her to have part of the joy that I had. And so, I named my daughter Jacqueline after my sister," she added. The late journalist's older sister Jacqueline, who had died of ovarian cancer in 1985, was "developmentally challenged." 

Walters was determined to inspire other couples to adopt as well.  Having a child "made her life complete," she said according to ABC News. Walters also wanted other parents to share their stories of how adopting changed their lives. "Sharing our stories might make a difference in someone else's life," she said at the time.

Her relationship with her daughter over the years was complicated as Jacqueline preferred life outside the spotlight and struggled to find her own identity. She resorted to drugs and ran away from home. "They got bigger and bigger. I was more and more isolated from my mom’s world. And I thought running would solve all my problems,” she said in 2008, according to NBC News. Her mom took her to a treatment facility in Idaho which she credited with saving her life. She also said she's proud of her mother and thought of her as a "great mom" to which Walters replied, “Oh, this is why it’s so nice to do interviews. Your child says things to you, you don’t hear all the time, ‘Oh, gee thanks'.”

Walters continued, “And so here is the ending — to have a child who is at risk who grows up to be like this. I mean not just that I love her and not just that I’m so lucky and this is a part of my life that I think most people don’t know. But it allows me to forgive myself for maybe some of the things I think I should have done better. And to say this to other parents, I mean, ‘Look, at this kid.’”

References:

https://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=123612&page=1

https://abcnews.go.com/2020/video/barbara-walters-celebrating-true-original-23662452

https://www.nbcnews.com/id/wbna3080101

Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo By Frazer Harrison