Know More About Megan Rapinoe’s Siblings: Identical Twin Sister and Elder Brother Who Suffers From Drug Abuse

The fans consider Megan Rapinoe one of the greatest ever women’s soccer players. Her family and her fans have played a vital role to help her reach that level of stature in society. Megan Rapinoe has an identical twin sister, who also used to play soccer at one time. In fact, her brother was her first inspiration in soccer, but things were never the same after he suffered from a certain drug addiction off the pitch. Rapinoe has been one of the strongest athletes out there who never looked back, despite loads of struggles and barriers along the way.

Let’s find out more about the USWNT star’s siblings and their role in her life.

All the siblings of Megan Rapinoe

Megan Rapinoe has quite a few siblings. The USWNT star’s parents, Jim and Denise Rapinoe, had three children in total. They first had Brain and then the twin sisters, Megan and Rachael, came along. Rapinoe also has another brother and sister, Michael and Jenny, who were from their mother’s older marriage.

Megan Rapinoe and her twin sister

Megan Rapinoe and her identical twin sister were born on July 5, 1985. The identical twins shared a very close and heart-warming bond with each other from the very beginning. Rachael Rapinoe played soccer right until 2012. After tearing her knee ligament again, Rachael had to abruptly retire from the sport. But that wasn’t the end of the twin sister’s journey together.

They’ve been each other’s partners in crime in many different aspects of life. From playing soccer together as youngsters to becoming business partners, the Rapinoe sisters have done it all.

Did Megan Rapinoe’s twin play soccer?

Megan Rapinoe and Rachael Rapinoe together played soccer from a very young age. The world of soccer first saw them for the first time when they represented the University of Portland. It’s safe to say that the identical twins were extremely good at the sport. While Megan Rapinoe turned out to eventually become a pioneer of women’s soccer, her sister Rachael also represented the US at the U23 level.

After signing a professional deal with Stjarnan Women in Iceland, Rachael had to draw the curtain over her playing career due to a serious injury in 2012. The USWNT star’s sister had torn her knee ligament yet again, and this time it was beyond repairable.

How did Megan Rapinoe out her sister to their parents?

Even though Rachael Rapinoe wasn’t aware of the LGBTQ community, she always believed that she was ‘different’ from a normal person. Rachael realized that she was attracted to women during her U19 World Cup camp. Rachael managed to gather the courage to tell Megan about it only a year later. Their mother then realized that something was wrong between the two twins.

That was the time Megan Rapinoe finally outed her sister. Whilst in conversation with Cyd Zeigler on his podcast Five Rings To Rule Them All, Rachael spoke about the time her sister revealed the secret to their mother. She said that Megan first outed her as a lesbian but her mother didn’t respond well.

As a part of her defense mechanism, Megan outed Rachael too. While quoting Megan, Rachael said, “Well, Rachael’s gay too!”. But the aftermath of dealing with judgemental eyes from the traditional catholic society around them wasn’t easy. Even 15 years later, the twin sister does not feel the most welcome in their hometown.

Megan Rapinoe and Rachael’s business venture

Megan and Rachael Rapinoe established a joint business venture called Rapinoe SC. Rachael used to host clinics to help youngsters who were passionate about soccer. However, they shut down that business venture in 2020. Rachael co-founded Mendi, a company that provides and range of CBD products, especially for athletes. Mendi’s salve stick, vegan soft gel capsules, and vegan gummies help athletes deal with their pain in an easier way.

Megan once explained that Mendi’s purpose was to find a more natural way for athletes to manage their pain. Through the company, the identical twin sisters raised awareness and strived to fight for the legalization of CBD everywhere possible.

Megan Rapinoe and her brother Brian Rapinoe

Brian Rapinoe was Megan Rapinoe’s first inspiration to play soccer. The identical twins started playing soccer only after watching their elder brother Brian. However, his career came to a tragic end due to serious drug addiction. Brian was put behind bars for the first time when he was 18. The cops caught the USWNT star’s brother stealing a car.

Since then, life has never been the same for Brian and the Rapinoe sisters. Due to his drug addiction and offenses, Brian spent the next decades in and out of prison.

Megan Rapinoe opening up about her brother’s addiction story

Megan Rapinoe once spilled the beans about her brother Brian’s story. She revealed that Brain had been struggling with his drug addiction since the age of 15. She also revealed a lesser-known fact that her brother was once jailed for possessing meth when he was younger. Nonetheless, the USWNT legend has an immense amount of respect and empathy for her brother.

In an exclusive interview with People, she quoted, “For whatever reason, the drugs sunk their teeth into Brian. He didn’t need federal prison; he needed drug rehab”. She continued, “If there was some magic bullet or any amount of money that would just get him healthy, we would do it. But we’re not going to enable”.

READ MORE: “What the F*** Are You Doing”: Megan Rapinoe Was Shocked After Seeing Brother’s Reckless Behavior That Led Him to Prison in 1995

Where are Megan Rapinoe’s siblings, and what are they doing now?

Rachael Rapinoe is currently busy with Mendi. She is the co-founder and the CEO of the CBD products company. Mendi helps athletes deal with their pain in a more natural and effective manner.

The last time Megan Rapinoe spoke about her elder brother Brian Rapinoe was in 2020. She claimed that even she wasn’t sure where her brother was. The USWNT legend claimed that her brother was stuck in the rut between ‘living and relapsing’ for years. He is also still in and out of prison in San Diego for his crimes when he was younger.

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All in all, Megan Rapinoe has always received the support of her family at every stage of her career. Her success story just proves that everyone needs their family to fall back and rely on at some point in their life despite their stature in society.