Real Housewives of Orange County star Heather Dubrow announced that her 15-year-old daughter, Kat, has come out as a lesbian. The mother of four opened up about the development with People Magazine, sharing that the revelation didn’t change their dynamic at home, but rather how they decided as a unit to become a platform for acceptance.
ย “We’ve got four kids, they are different genders, different sexualities, and all at interesting places in their lives, figuring out who they are and where they belong as humans,” Dubrow told the outlet. The added layer to their family story is part of the reason that prompted their return to the Bravo franchise. “I felt like our purpose is to keep those conversations going in other families,” Heather says.
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Along with Kat, Heather is also mom to 11-year-old Coco and twins Nick and Max, 18. Just one year ago, her other daughter Max came out as bisexual. “Coming out with your sexuality is something that broadly affects a lot of different people. We just want people to realize it should be part of normal conversations,” Heather’s husband, plastic surgeon and star of Botched, Terry Dubrow said.
The urge to healthily navigate these new conversations in her family was imperative, Heather describes. “I was raised by 1950s parents. They talked about nothing. I had no idea,” she said. “These kids, they talk aboutย everythingย and I think it’s so, so important.” But, when she first heard her eldest child’s admission, she says she didn’t have an overreaction to it. “I guess I didn’t make a big deal about it,” she recalled. “She texted me and goes, ‘I’ve got to tell you something.’ I’m like, ‘What?’ She’s like, ‘I’m bisexual.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah. I know. Remember we talked about it?’”
Max’s sister, on the other hand, had another approach. “Kat decided to drop in our family group text, ‘By the way, I’m a lesbian,’” Heather shared. “I didn’t see it, and I was mad because the dogs pooped in the house, so I wrote back, ‘Who let the dogs poop in the house?’ It was a total mom fail, and they’ve never let me forget that.”
But her heart was in the right place. “All I cared about was creating an environment where they all felt safe, comfortable, happy,” Heather told the magazine. It’s a sentiment that’s felt by her children. “Even if she doesn’t understand something, my mom tries very hard and she learns and teaches herself and she grows with us,” says Max. Her sister adds: “She’s asked me trillions of questions that really show she cares. She’s asked me about my pronouns. It’s really easy to talk to her. It’s not like I have to build up courage if I have something to tell her.”
