Berniece Inez Gladys Baker was born to Jasper and Gladys Baker on July 30, 1919, in Venice, California. In 1923, however, the couple divorced, and Jasper brought Berniece and her older brother Robert to his hometown of Kentucky and raised them there. According to ATI, Jasper eventually married another woman, and Berniece grew up without memories of her biological mother, and she had no idea whether she was dead or alive.
At 19 years old, Berniece married a man named Paris Miracle. It was after her marriage that she learned that she had a half-sister. Berniece’s father gave her a letter saying that it was from her biological mother. Initially, per History by Day, Jasper didn’t want to show his daughter the letter, but he ultimately decided that it was Berniece’s decision to do what she wanted with the information in it. The letter stated that Berniece had a 12-year-old half-sister named Norma Jeane, and it also came with an address where she could send a letter to her sister. Berniece was ecstatic to learn about Norma Jeane’s existence, and she immediately wanted to get to know her.