The Hidden Kennedy Daughter 

i too have Cerebral palsy, i cant walk. i was born in1962.i had a crazy dumb aunt who called me a reject when i was born. Some reject! i have a college degree, live on my own with a home health aide,and do my own bills and personal things.my mom and godfathers family raised me and loved me then and even now. i am glad we now live in a different age where the abuse that rosemarie suffered will not be allowed.I wiil say that Joe Sr. makes me sick.i know that you cant cure stupid people.

Joe was a self centered narcissist. Evil and corrupt to the core! Poor Rosemary. 😢

I think Rosemary kennedy was the prettiest of the Kennedy woman. The fact that the nurse maid made Rose hold her legs together is horrible. I bet if rose had been allowed to have the baby while the baby was going normally through the birth canal, Rosemary would not have had mental problems. Shame on her parents for not visiting her.

The nurse trying to delay the birth until the doctor got there is literally the exact thing that was done to my grandma when my mother was born in the 60s. As a result, the lack of oxygen caused my mom to be born with fairly severe cerebral palsy. Women have been giving birth since the literal beginning of humanity. How tf did so many medical professionals think it was a good idea to keep the mothers legs closed during active labor?? It's not like childbirth is a new phenomenon or anything.

Old Joe Sr was simply a despicable person. This is only one example of multiple events of his life.

My grandmother told me this story when I was little. I thought then that it was wrong. 50 years later, it's so very wrong. Poor Rosemary

She was abused and abandoned as a child then tortured and isolated as a young adult. Heartbreaking.

He did not want her to speak. So he made sure she would never.... tell. Rose knew the truth yes she sacrificed her daughter for the prestige and position . The mother was just as evil as the father.

Joseph Kennedy was an evil horrid man. This is such a horrid sad story to hear. I cant imagine how Rosemary suffered due to her "loving" damily.

The nurse should also be held accountable.

My grandfather knew Joe Kennedy and said he was an SOB.

So tragic... The years of pressure to be 'perfect' were obviously a trigger for depression, rebellion in her early 20's.. the sudden 'deterioration' she presented with on returning to the US after the love, recognition, freedom she'd experienced in the UK is obviously a fear, anxiety, depression reaction to being back in an oppressive home environment.. so so sad, an absolutely criminal act by her father....

You know psychologist even today can’t tell the difference of someone who grew up with abusive and/or neglectful parents and someone who has a mental illness. Thank you for bring up the fact that she probably didn’t have a mental illness.

With that as a father anyone would have suffered depression.

Very disturbing to hear the doctor who lobotomized Rosemary, didn't think she 'needed' one, and suspected she merely suffered from depression. What kind of ethics did these men have, if any. It seems very strange they proceeded to cut deeper into her brain, considering her being unable to speak as an indication 'they had gone far enough'.

"Do no harm" those doctors were evil monsters, who should have reported her father, rather than perform the procedure.

Please, bear with me as this will be a relatively long but vital comment. I'm so very glad that, towards the end of your vlog, you told the truth, as revealed by James Watts M.D. The Kennedys have crafted history to put themselves in the best light, as always. My Grandfather knew the Kennedys during Joe's time as Ambassador to the Court of King James & my father reminded me to never forget what Joe did to Rosemary. The Kennedys only became, "American royalty", a moniker they adored, because both paternal & maternal grandfathers broke the law to earn their fortunes!!. Joe's father had been a bootlegger during prohibition & Rose's father "bought" votes, mainly by moving around polling stations & giving all entrants a dollar & the men received the dollar wrapped around a cigar with the statement, "Don't forget "Honey Fitz" (John Francis Fitzgerald) in the polling booth!" The story of Rosemary's birth was carefully crafted many, many years later, as an excuse for the medical havoc which her father paid heavily to have performed & no reason for it's performance kept quiet. All of the Kennedy children were expected to keep diaries, including Rosemary. Rosemary was the prettiest of the Kennedy sisters, followed by Kathleen &, my Grandfather said that, she was usually the winner at tennis (not an easy thing to do if one was unstable in either mind or body!). She had a superb way with words & her dance card was always full at balls after she "came out" as a debutante, much to the chagrin of her sisters. On the subject of her "coming out". The Windsors with their ignorant prejudice against disabilities (don't forget Prince John 1905-1919, youngest son of King George V & Queen Mary who simply suffered from epilepsy & a mild learning disability who was kept in a cottage, with his devoted nanny, away from his siblings, as he was an "embarrassment" to his parents!). There was a firm rule that anyone with a disability was NEVER presented at court. Yet, we have a photograph to commemorate the occasion - Rose, Rosemary & Kathleen, dressed for the debutante's presentation at court each wearing the traditional white ostrich feathers in their hair. As for Rosemary's "trip" as she curtsied? Until the ceremony was deemed to be outdated, women who were presented had to wear a white dress with a long train which was worn over the wrist - until the curtsey when the long train had to be dropped from the wrist, swiftly kicked behind her feet with one foot, then came the curtsey (which a LOT of British women fumbled). Joe's downfall, as a serial adulterer & attempted bribes in parliament & society, required a scapegoat & sweet, compliant, unsuspecting Rosemary was it. Dispossessed of his title & sent back to the U.S.A., in disgrace, made him very angry. So, with Rose's silent assent, Rosemary was given one of the newer, shorter but very destructive pre-frontal lobotomies by Walter Freeman II M.D. (using an ice pick from his own kitchen drawer - his own son, remembering the day, called his father an "expletive monster") & James Watts M.D. Rosemary's life thereafter would never be the same &, to make her situation worse, her parents ignored all convents close enough to discourage her siblings from visiting (they lived between homes in Hyannis Port & Florida & St. Coletta's is in Minesotta!!). To further isolate her, Joe had a small cottage built for her AWAY from the main convent & any "friends" she might have enjoyed to have around her, with only one, or rarely two nuns for company. A priest came & served her mass, in solitude, once per week. Every time I hear the Kennedys praised for having established the "Special Olympics", I think to myself that it was an event born out of a family's guilt &, for destroying a perfectly normal human being, it was the very least that those monsters could do.........

Rosemary was the most beautiful of the Kennedy women. It’s so sad what happened to her.

I'm from New England and grew up around the Kennedys . Very sad family. My heart breaks every time I hear about Rosemary.

Rosemary’s father was a monster for having her lobotomized .

Rosemary's smile was stunning. She could have lived a truly happy life if her father weren't such a despicable, evil prick. Also, it's absolutely unconscionable that an actual nurse would delay the birth of a baby whose head is already in the birth canal. It's not rocket science to help deliver a baby if everything presents as normal.

What a creepy supposed father and Stepford Wife family.

This same doctor lobotomized my grandmother also in 1926 , she suffered from postpartum psychosis and stayed locked away for over sixty years , very sad , I met her when my brother went and got her out and placed in a nursing home that he worked at , that doctor did thousands of these actions

The ambition and greed of that father is beyond belief. The fact that the mother turned the other cheek and allowed his behavior to continue speaks of HER lack of character. Future generations should review the history of this particular family and learn from unbridled ambition and the appearance of 'normality' usually hides more than one skeleton. Shameful behavior of both parents. Shameful, despicable and monstrous! The delayed birth and lack of oxygen because of that delayed birth undoubtedly caused some of the developmental delays exhibited in Rosemary's early childhood. The responsibility of this lies heavily on the mother and the attending nurse. That Rosemary was unable to compete at the higher levels of her siblings probably DID contribute to any alleged depression, as it would anyone. The parents wanting only perfect and competitive offspring more than likely led to Rosemary's provocative behavior while isolated in the 'convent.' She was the most attractive of the daughters and enjoyed the attention of men. Sadly, that was the trigger for her monstrous father to have her brains scrambled into mush. He just couldn't have THAT to deal with, while pushing his sons into politics! That coward didn't even have the balls to let his complicit wife in on that until it was done! No, she turned her head and continued to turn to her religion to get her through life, living with that monster. God save us from people like that!

You would never think anything was wrong with Rosemary Kennedy just by looking at her.

What a god awful family. Daddy was the worst.

Gee what does a despicable tyrant do with a daughter who becomes old enough to defy him and tell of his crimes against her

So disgraceful

Eunice founded the Special Olympics as a tribute to Rosemary -- to try the right the wrong. ❤

Joe Kennedy Sr. should’ve left his daughter Rosemary alone.

depression didn't cause her to not be able to crawl at 2yrs old

There is no way I could have held my legs closed for 2 hours as baby was emerging......I'd rather deliver them myself (I had 4 daughters) than wait on some doctor......I wouldn't have listened to that nurse.

It is so sad that ambition often causes people to behave very badly to others in their family..

I don't agree with the statement that the Kennedys were 'American Royalties'. History has shown that Joseph Kennedy was known to be a bootlegger involved with the Italian Mafia in the USA. And Camelot? I still have empathy for Jacqueline Bouvier who, for whatever reasons, married JFK. I have empathy for Eunice as well. She was an incredible woman, not corrupted by her influential family. It's a tragic story...

Jackie K said of her husband, John, “Jack’s mother never loved him.”

The Kennedy’s did not make a horrific choice-Rosemary’s father did. 😢

Joseph K got poetic justice when he had to live like a vegetable himself, losing control over his body. And a second helping when he had to see his crown prince being assassinated out of office.

This is so very sad. Thank you for telling us her story.

They were so cruel to her.

The wicked sin of selfish ambition and the damage that is done to the children.

In defense of the nurse’s decision, I will say that “back then” (over a century ago) most if maybe not all nurses were trained never to make decisions independent of a doctor. This poor nurse was probably caught between a rock and a hard place and wasn’t “allowed” to deliver the baby. Sad that doctors were treated as gods and nurses as second class citizens.

How horrific:(((

Goes to show, the more things in life that one try's to control, the more things will control you.

Joe Sr was a horrid person.

I fully believe the reason the Kennedys were such terrible people & had so many bad things happen to them, was punishment for what Joseph did to Rosemary.

So bizarre how we use the terms 'disability' or mental illness'. So subjective...not.scientically based. Most likely Rose Marie was neither. She may have been more simple, less intellectual, less competitive girl. Maybe insecure. With a mother like Rose she likely was emotionally abused and degraded which can cause emotional outbursts. Certainly not abnomal when you consider the context she was living under. Poor girl never had a chance with parents like that. A true crime.

I was born with intellectual disability abilities 🎉and I’m 55 years old my mom hid it from me I have aunt who rejects me and was mean to me ,my mom was shamed for being pregnant in 1968 by her religious family and so she were a tight girdle to hide me but until my birth because she was not married, I never knew my dad , I cried watching this so much , my family his my intellectual disability for a decade ,

As I’m sure others have mentioned, the ‘lobotomy’ was performed by a very controversial ‘dr’. He used a normal ice pick, inserted through the eye socket & literally just wiggled it around to destroy some of the pre frontal cortex. His practice was disgraceful. Poor Rosemary was treated terribly by her family.

My mother had that happen when she gave birth to me. The nurse wanted her to wait until the doctor arrived, and literally tried to push me back in. I have epilepsy.

How sad her family was more concerned about what people would think of the family instead of trying to help their daughter shameful behavior for any parent to do.

Rose wasn't much of a mother either, when Jack was sick, she never visited him in the hospital and she would jet off to Europe to go shopping at the drop of a hat. Even at Hyannisport, the kids didn't even have their own rooms in the house, they just bunked wherever.

Beyond tragic.

Rosemary had the most beautiful smile ❤ a very beautiful woman

Makes me terribly sad to see her before and after. She was beautiful.

So very sad.

This just makes me cry.

It’s so sad that Rosemary Kennedy was her family’s dirty little secret.

SHAME WHAT HAPPENED TO HER CAUSE OF DEAR OLE DAD'S ASPIRATIONS

Joseph Kennedy was later punished by life: his precious sons, after their political success, both were assassinated on the top of their political carrier. Joseph has also lost his intelectual capabilities, by a stroke. This video gave me the reason why the Kennedys have been cursed. God’s Justice is hard to be understood, but it works, sooner or later…😢

We know about Rosemary Kennedy because she came from a prominent family. But how many others were like her that we DON'T know about? Sad to say, what she endured was probably not at all uncommon. I look at her and think "there but the grace of God go I". To be a "special ed" student in the 1960's was still considered to be shameful. Any kind of learning disabilities, developmental disabilities, mental/emotional disturbances, and yes, even some physical disabilities meant that you were looked down upon by society. At the same time those of us at the bottom of the social heap were reminded directly and indirectly that we ought to be "grateful" for society for allowing us to exist "in public" rather than being confined to institutions as was common only a decade or so previously. I cannot stress enough that Rosemary's family was not at all unusual in their thinking because people like her WERE a disgrace, something to keep out of sight and out of mind. Since euthanasia wasn't an option, families had to hide the fact that they had a problematic child. Which meant tons and tons of denial. Those of us who could not be "rehabilitated" enough to pass for normal ended up in institutions. Those of us who were more successful in that regard did so at a price. The stigma regarding people like Rosemary was so great that if you wanted to "fit in" you could NEVER, EVER reveal to anyone that you were once a special education student. I know it is hard for people to understand that but that was very, very real. You did not talk about it, you learned to mask, you learned to hide, you learned to cope, to work around, and you did your best to stay away from those with visible disabilities lest others notice the similarities between you and them and start connecting the dots. If this sounds a lot like racial "passing" it is. Now obviously people's experiences differed, but that was the general atmosphere regarding people like her, and it wasn't confined to rich, socially prominent families. It was across the board.

These people did not deserve to be parents.

That father was evil!

I cannot tell you how terrible it makes one feel if they are constantly being lied to .

I’m sitting here with tears so sad 😭

People with money alway think they know what is best for everyone

Why is it for people who have money think it's ok to do what they do?. Another sad story like this is The Queen of England's cousin.. It's sad to think what money can buy and to make things disappear. I don't think Rosemary's parents could buy their way into heaven. He sold his soul to the devil. As for Rosemary she is now at peace.

The way people treated those with learning disabilities as though they were fixable with one tap on the knife. Poor Rosemary. I pray God rests her easy far far away from Joe.

I read that Rosemary would sneak out of the house. Her father was afraid she was promiscuous. The fear was that by discovery or unwanted pregnancy, she would bring shame on the family. Thus, she was lobotomized.

LORD, have mercy. And these are the people that the society upholds...!

back then if a woman was unique and had her own mind , she was considered a problematic. her father failed her worst way ever. she lived all her life disabeled and never knew true love, they just abandoned her there in the mental hospital. :( no one deserve this kind of treatment, she didnt do anything wrong.

He will have to answer to God for what he did to his own daughter Rosemary. That’s such a crying shame what Rosemary had to go through all that because of her dad

That doctor should have been in jail for malpractice

Joe Kennedy was a hateful and controlling man. He got what he wanted from all his kids. Acted like he cared but cared as long as he did what he wanted. Mrs Kennedy was away when this happened to Rosemary. She never found out about it until later. Even then she didn’t visit her until much later. Her sister Eunice Shriver was more involved later after finding her later. It was one of the main reasons she became as the head of Special Olympics today. All her siblings surrounded her when she was brought to spend time with them later. I think he was unbelievable to do this as her mother was pregnant and it became a difficult delivery for Rosemary. It affected her capabilities in learning later and Joe felt it threatened the success of his family future. Rather nasty idea. But mental issues were hidden from public disclosure then.

The Kennedys were a terrible family, especially the men.

Strong, capable independent woman scared that joke of a father.

A victim of narcissistic parenting.

Why didn't they seek a match for her. A loving committed relationship with someone who was compassionate and cared deeply for her might have made all the difference.

Does anyone think maybe the lobotomy was to keep Rosemary quiet about maybe some possible unsavory happenings in the home?

Kudos to the, script writer, video editor and vo. A powerful story well told. 👍 Fundamentally it all seems to stem back to the nurse forcing Mrs Kennedy to keep her legs closed 😱 ( waiting for a Dr) and therefore the distinct possibility of oxygen deprivation creates a risk of brain injury; causes the gradual death and impairment of brain cells, and even death. So not surprised that she had such challenges, in fact amazing that she survived at all.

She was the prettiest daughter . Its hits home as my sister was born handicapped mentally .But Rosemary was fine maybe slow but fine .She shouldn't have went through lobotomy at all . I loved this information about Rosemary .Thank you

After I'd heard about her 'forced' I lost all respect for Joe Kennedy, but truthfully I never had any to begin with. He wanted his children to live his 'dreams' & not theirs. I always thought he was selfish & overbearing & when he had his stroke I didn't feel one bit sorry for. He had no right to treat Rosemary the way he did but he wanted POWER & CONTROL over his entire family & that's not a good dad. I just wonder if he ever regretted how he treated Rosemary or anyone, but I suppose he was too selfish to care. May Rosemary rest in peace now in JESUS' name.

Joseph was a monster and his wife knew it.

Ambition is an extremely dangerous thing

Rosemary was by far the prettiest of all the Kennedy women and the biggest Kennedy victim

Eventually Rosemary could walk again, but did so with a limp.

The Kennedy clan suffered many tragedies perhaps payment for their father's treatment of Rosemary his first born daughter. Karma is a bitch.

How sad,an inhumane treatment that her father would think of doing such a barbaric act towards his own child!

Rosemary looked so healthy and glowing, she looked happy, I wish her family would accept her the way she were. I didn't see anything wrong with her, even though her parents didn't think she was as intelligent as the others in her family.

Rosemary probably was on the autism spectrum. She was very beautiful

The fact that lobotomy was ever something any doctor did is beyond shocking and repugnant. How sickening that she was awake!! and reciting things like the Lord's Prayer. WTF!? People truly are dark and disgusting.

Thank you so much for putting together this video. It was truly tragic what this beautiful woman went through 😢

In the day, not so very long ago, doctors of wealthy families etc. considered epilepsy to be some kind of mental illness. It runs in my immediate family. The victims were shut away, abused and ignored. In olden times, folks with afflictions similar were thought to be special. They were honored. Well, kids the world has changed, then in ways has gotten worse.

I am my family's horrible secret. I identify with Rosemary ❤

What utterly Horrid parents! Mother Rose is the reason poor Rosemary had those mental problems. The father Joseph was a tyrant that was the scum of the earth and was allegedly involved in bootlegging, swindling, murder, stealing, racism, insider trading, adultery and prostitution. He flaunted numerous affairs and turned his wife Rose into an alcoholic. He wanted to portray a perfect family yet he had practially every character flaw known to man. He had a hit put out on him by the "Purple Gang" in 1927 for stealing shipments of whiskey from Ireland and went crying to gangster Frank Costello. Kennedy now owed Costello big time and when he called in the favor Kennedy refused. Kennedy escaped that hit with Sam Giancana's help. He reportedly had mafia made money ties for decades. The mafia tried to continue their connections with the Kennedy sons but JFK knew that would be detrimental to his political career and refused. Once he became president they were determined to be seen in Kennedy's company even going so far as to "squeeze" a favor out of the Rat Pack gang. Again JFK refused. They became incensed, thinking they're the one's who helped Joseph make his money and they should at least be thanked. Makes you wonder who really was behind JFK's assassination? 🤔 Joseph Sr and Joseph Jr. were both anti-semite and also had an admiration of Hitler an favored the Nazis. One last thing, he was accused of allegedly rigging the 1960 election among others. Gee this sounds SO familiar, Who could possibly be this Evil? 🤔

My mother was made to delay the birth of her fourth child so the Dr could have his breakfast. The midwife kept my brother in the birth canal by pushing him back. Mum knew as soon as she held him that something was wrong and asked for a priest to baptise him. He died three days later. This was in new zealand in 1954.

Money and greed can do harm . Alot of harm .

That stupid obstetrical nurse just should’ve delivered Rosemary without the doctor present.

So sad. She was so pretty.

So sad, power brings greed, look at the whole picture , so sad

Makes you wonder if she was abused or had a tumor.....