The Sad Truth About Karen Carpenter's Marriage

Days before their wedding rehearsal dinner, Burris admitted to Carpenter he'd had a vasectomy before meeting her. Although he offered to reverse the procedure, the chances of the couple having children would be reduced because of his past surgery. Schmidt wrote in her book, "Karen felt betrayed. Burris had lied to her; he had withheld this information for the duration of their courtship and engagement, knowing full well that starting a family was at the top of Karen's list of priorities." Carpenter wanted to cancel the wedding, but her mother would not let her. Agnes already had financed most of the wedding expenses and the invitations had been sent. She told her daughter she could not back out.

Once they married, things only got worse. Burris liked living beyond his means and started asking her for money, sometimes taking $50,000 at a time. "The marriage to Burris was a disaster," the Independent wrote, "He was cruel and impatient with her, calling her a 'bag of bones' and telling her he would never have a child with her." In November 1981, she filed for divorce after 14 months.

Reeling from the experience, Carpenter sought treatment from a psychotherapist, Steven Levenkron, who specialized in eating disorders, and started relying on laxatives to control her weight.

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