Hopie Feek is opening up about the roller coaster of emotions she’s experienced since learning that Rory Feek is not her biological father.
Hopie, 36, announced on Feb. 8 that her biological dad is actually a man she identified as BC — not the country singer, who raised her and her sister Heidi, 38, after splitting from their mother, his ex-wife.
Rory, 59, recounted his side of the story in a subsequent blog post, in which he wrote about his longtime suspicions that Hopie might not be his, and recalled conversations he’d had with Hopie’s doctor when she was born shortly after his return from a six-month deployment with the Marines.
Hopie tells PEOPLE she was under the impression that the conversation she’d had with Rory, in which she revealed the details of her DNA test, was “private and sincere,” and that she was surprised by the specifics shared in his blog.
“In his post he managed to call my mom a liar and made it seem like she didn’t want to be in our lives. It was also hurtful that he said he was ‘frustrated’ when he found out I was going to be born,” she says. “Like I was always unwanted…I tried to be as upbeat as possible in my announcement, hoping to find a positive path through this difficult situation.”
In the blog, Rory claimed that he’d asked Hopie’s mother, Tamara Gilmer, point-blank whether Hopie was his, and was told she was. He also wrote about the stress that was taking over his marriage when he learned Gilmer was pregnant with their second child. Gilmer declined to comment when reached by PEOPLE.
“I shared with [Hopie] my memory of coming back… and how me and her mom weren’t doing well, and when soon after, we found out that she was pregnant, how frustrating it was,” Rory wrote. “How it was a difficult time to add another child to the mix, when our marriage was a mess and we were already struggling. And I shared how that next September I was in the hospital room on the day she was born and how special it was.”
He also shared what he told Hopie upon learning the news: “I told her I didn’t care. That this news and this blood test doesn’t change anything for me. ‘I love you as my daughter and I always will.’”
Hopie tells PEOPLE that her relationship with Rory remains strained — but not because of the DNA test results.
“My relationship with my dad is broken. Not because of this new revelation, but because he refuses to go to family therapy,” she says. “Him taking the two most vulnerable conversations of my life (coming out to him, and telling him we’re not biologically related) and publishing them to the world, is something we need a professional to help us navigate.”
She adds that the past few days have been “hard” due to “negative opinions” of people online, but she’s found a silver lining in her budding relationship with BC. She’s even joined a support group for people dealing with similar things.
“It’s amazing to know I’m not alone in all this. Lots of people have had a similar experience with DNA testing,” she says. “I love learning how much I have in common with my biological parents. BC and I both have huskies! BC and my mom are both wonderful people! Healing is going to take time, but I have a lot of support from the people around me!”
Hopie previously said in an Instagram statement that she found Rory’s blog post “extremely disappointing,” as she’d asked him to “be kind and not shame” her mother. The blog contained details of Heidi and Hopie’s childhood, including the few times they saw their mother while growing up in Rory’s care.
She also said she regretted letting Rory write about her sexuality in his 2018 memoir, as she feels he used her in order to sell copies of his book.
“From now on, I just wish my stories could be my own to tell and share,” she wrote. “I want to move forward and find happiness with the people who love me, far away from this online hate.”
Hopie and Heidi are in the midst of an ongoing dispute with Rory over the care of his 11-year-old daughter Indiana, whom he shared with late wife Joey Feek. The sisters have not seen Indiana since June, as Rory has not let her visit his older girls due, he says, to their differing worldviews. Heidi and Hopie took legal action against their father over the situation with Indiana in early September, though details of the filing remain confidential, as Indiana is a minor. Legal proceedings remain ongoing.
Read the full article here
