Rory Feek’s daughter, Hopie Feek, is speaking out about her complicated relationship with the country singer after she revealed that he is not her biological father.
On Feb. 8, Hopie, 36, announced on social media she took a 23andMe test that determined she was not biologically related to Rory, who raised her and her sister Heidi, 38, as a single parent after ending his marriage to their mother. Hopie said that she discovered that her biological father was a man that she identified as B.C.
In a post he uploaded on his blog Feb. 11, Rory recalled his reaction when Hopie shared the results of her DNA test with him and explained why he had previously harbored suspicions that she may have been fathered by another man.
During a new interview with People magazine, Hopie expressed her dismay over the personal details that Feek recounted in his blog post, including their conversation which she had thought was “private and sincere,” and objected to the way in which he portrayed their mother.
“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 said.
Hopie continued, “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 his blog post titled “a different dad,” Rory shared how Hopie’s news that he was not her biological father did not “completely surprise” him.
He explained that his ex-wife’s due date, when she was expected to have Hopie, did not align with when he returned from a six-month deployment with the Marines.
“I shared with her my memory of coming back from Japan in January of 1988 when I was in the Marines after my unit’s six month deployment to the Middle East, 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,” he 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 added.
However, Rory recalled a conversation he had with Hopie’s doctor shortly after her birth that led him to believe that she had been conceived prior to his return from Japan.
Rory wrote that when he directly asked his ex-wife if Hopie was his daughter, she adamantly said yes.
RORY FEEK STILL BELIEVES GOD HAS A PLAN FOR EVERYTHING
“I told Hopie that I guess a part of me knew,” Rory recalled. “But more than that. 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,'” he remembered telling Hopie. However, Hopie told People that their relationship cannot be repaired unless Rory agrees to attend sessions with a mental health professional alongside his family members.
“My relationship with my dad is broken. Not because of this new revelation, but because he refuses to go to family therapy,” Hopie said.
Hopie explained she felt betrayed that Rory publicly revealed details after times when she confided in him. In a social media update last Thursday, Hopie slammed his blog post about their paternity conversation as “extremely disappointing,” pointing out that her “one request was for him to be kind and not shame my mom.”
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Hopie also noted that she regretted sharing that she was bisexual with the Grammy Award winner, writing that he was “hateful and judgmental.” She also claimed he used her information to sell books.
“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 told People.
In her Feb. 8 post, Hopie said she has “gotten really close” with her biological father over the last six months. “I’ve never experienced unconditional love like that before,” she said in her video, as she referred to B.C.
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While speaking with People, Hopie shared that it has been “hard” for her since revealing that Rory was not her biological father as she has been subjected to “negative opinions” from online commenters.
However, she shared that establishing a bond with B.C. has helped her through the difficult time as well as joining a support group for people who have also made surprising discoveries through DNA testing.
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“It’s amazing to know I’m not alone in all this. Lots of people have had a similar experience with DNA testing,” she told the outlet.
Hopie continued, “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’s revelation comes amid the ongoing family dispute that she and Heidi are having with Rory over his parenting of their 11-year-old sister, Indiana.
In September, the sisters decided to take legal action against Rory after they expressed their concerns that he put Indiana in “harm’s way” and stated that their father prevented them from any communication with their younger sibling.
In a blog post titled “canceled” that he shared at the time, Rory addressed the conflict, and wrote that their family “isn’t perfect” and their struggles “aren’t something that just happened this summer.”
“We’ve always been a work-in-progress, and I feel fairly certain we always will be,” he admitted. “There are things that my older daughters and I need to work out together. Right now we’re at an impasse on how that’s ever going to happen.”
