Robin Roberts is on the number one morning show in America. As one of the most well-respected and recognized television personalities, she’s given Good Morning America viewers an intimate look at her breast cancer diagnosis and treatment, allowing cameras to capture her while going through chemotherapy and much of her time was spent in hospital beds instead of her anchor chair. After a successful recovery, it was only a few years later that Robin learned she had MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), a blood condition that can affect those who have gone through extensive cancer treatment.
GMA fans have seen Robin’s triumphant return twice now, as she had a bone marrow transplant from her sister, Sally-Ann, that gave her a brand new life. (Robin now considers herself two years old, counting her transplant day as her rebirth.) And with that rebirth has also come an even more special insight into the woman that is Robin Roberts. This past March, Robin let viewers in on one of the most important relationships in her life, one that helped her through two miraculous journeys and recoveries that have made her the happiest and healthiest she’s ever been: Her partner, Amber Laign.
In her new book Everybody’s Got Something, Robin is at her most honest as she tells her story. She spent 30 days in a hospital room, right after losing her mother. The next 70 days were focused heavily on staying alive, hoping the transplant would take and that no infections from the outside world would threaten that goal. Friends and family donned masks while Robin was isolated. Her dog, KJ, had to be taken in by friends. Her beloved sisters and brother came to New York as much as possible, while other friends from other parts of the United States also visited to cook meals that Robin would try to force down her sore throat. And Amber, who has been with Robin for nine years, was there to be with her through it all.
“I would be amazed when my family would call and I couldn’t answer a question, and I would give it over to Amber and she started rattling off all these things,” Robin said in her dressing room backstage after an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I’m like ‘How do you…how do you know those things?’ And it’s so important to have someone there by your side that can help navigate and also be the one to – she was the gatekeeper – to be able to give out the information to people and let them know and then take anything off of my shoulders.”
Robin noted while talking with Ellen that Amber is a private person who wasn’t interested in the spotlight, but that it was very important that she be thanked publicly along with all of Robin’s family, friends, doctors and other support systems. So when Robin posted a thank you on her public Facebook page, she listed her partner Amber and officially came out as a woman in a same-sex relationship.
