The Westbournes are a fictional family on the American soap opera General Hospital. They are best known for illegal and terrorist activity.
Background[]
Originally named Liesl Westbourne, Dr. Liesl Obrecht debuted in August 2012 as Cesar Faison's accomplice, tasked with keeping Dr. Robin Scorpio-Drake captive. It was later disclosed that Liesl and Faison had a past relationship resulted in their daughter, Dr. Britta "Britt" Westbourne. Despite Liesl's love for Faison, he did not reciprocate. This heart belonging to Anna Devane. Britt arrived in September 2012 and joined the staff at General Hospital in Port Charles. After Obrecht's arrest, Victor Cassadine cleared her charges, leading to her appointment as the chief of staff at GH for two years.
In December 2013, James Nathan "Nathan" West, arrives in town and begins working for the P.C.P.D. Britt meets Nathan at the bar on that same day. They find common ground and quickly take a liking to each other. After a few drinks, they go home together with the intention of more than just conversation. Nathan confesses he doesn't want to take advantage of her inebriated state. Britt feels the same, leading to an almost kiss before they are interrupted. Unbeknownst to them, they are siblings, and Obrecht fears they might have a one-night stand. It is later revealed that Liesl is Nathan's biological mother, who had given him to her sister, Madeline Reeves, born as Magda Westbourne, to raise alongside her daughter, Nina Addison Reeves. Madeline alleges that Liesl abandoned Nathan to pursue Faison. Liesl, however, claims she gave up Nathan to provide him with a better life. In 2014, Britt fled Port Charles with Faison to escape her own legal troubles, only to return later to exonerate herself before departing once more for Seattle.
Nathan joined the police force to apprehend the individual responsible for Nina's 23-year coma. He suspects her ex-husband, Dr. Silas Clay, of involvement. Yet, he is stunned to discover Madeline is the true culprit. Madeline aimed to terminate Nina's pregnancy to cut ties between Silas and Nina. She administered an overdose of antidepressants to Nina, hoping to cause a miscarriage, but instead, Nina fell into a coma. Madeline then pinned the crime on Silas. During her coma, it was revealed that Nina was carrying twins, Janelle "Nelle" Benson and Willow Tait. After their birth, Madeline, their grandmother, arranged for their illegal adoptions by separate families. Nelle was raised by Frank Benson, while Willow was taken in by Nina's former nurse, Lorraine "Harmony" Miller.
In May 2014, Nina awoke from her coma and tried to rebuild her life in Port Charles with her ex, Silas. By August 2015, Madeline was sentenced to Pentonville Penitentiary for the murder of Silas and later died in prison.
Julian Jerome hired an inexperienced Nina as the editor-in-chief of Crimson Magazine, hoping she would fail and he could claim a tax write-off. However, Nina turned Crimson into a success. In August 2016, Nina's daughter Nelle arrived in town. Initially timid and kind, Nelle's true, unstable nature was eventually exposed. Unbeknownst to them, Nina and Nelle were mother and daughter, even when Nelle briefly worked at Crimson.
In December 2016, Valentin Cassadine and Nina married to bolster his position in the impending custody battle for his daughter, Charlotte Cassadine. Nina found joy in being Charlotte's stepmother.
Nathan West fell in love with Maxie Jones, and they wed on January 17, 2017, at the Metro Court Hotel, surrounded by loved ones. A year later, tragedy struck when Lulu Spencer published an article in The Port Charles Press revealing Nathan as Faison's son. Enraged, Faison returned to Port Charles, kidnapped Lulu and Liesl, and confronted his other son, Peter August, at Metro Court, holding him and Maxie at gunpoint. Nathan, unprotected, attempted a rescue but was shot by Faison. Jason Morgan intervened, shooting Faison before he could flee. Both Nathan and Faison succumbed to their injuries at General Hospital. Maxie, now a widow, later gave birth to Nathan's son, James Malcolm West, in May 2018.
Willow Tait, arrived in Port Charles in October 2018 as a teacher at PC Elementary. She disclosed that she became pregnant with Hank Archer's child and subsequently gave the baby up for adoption. The baby, named Wiley Cooper-Jones by adoptive parents Brad Cooper and Dr. Lucas Jones, tragically passed away from SIDS shortly after birth. Meanwhile, Nelle Benson, who had a son with Michael Corinthos named Jonah in July 2018, switched her baby with his deceased cousin Wiley Cooper-Jones. After Nelle's presumed death from a fall, the baby switch was uncovered, and Michael regained custody of his son on February 19, 2020, renaming him Wiley Corinthos. Willow, Nelle's fraternal twin sister, later formally adopted Wiley following her marriage of convenience to Michael.
In September 2020, Britt returned to Port Charles and was appointed chief of staff at General Hospital by the new board chairman, Cyrus Renault. Obrecht was thrilled that Britt had received her former position. However, Cyrus's subsequent dismissal and replacement by Dr. Monica Quartermaine led to a new arrangement where Britt and Dr. Terry Randolph were named co-chiefs of staff.
In January 2021, Nina was devastated to learn that her deceased daughter was Nelle. Carly Spencer, aware of the paternity secret, ignited a fierce rivalry between her and Nina. Later, Nina encountered an amnesiac Sonny Corinthos in Nixon Falls and chose to conceal his survival, partly as vengeance against Carly for trying to separate her from their shared grandson, Wiley. The truth eventually surfaced, and Carly discovered Sonny with Nina on Valentine's Day, leading to Sonny and Carly's divorce. Now free from her marriage to Valentin, Nina was able to explore a relationship with Sonny.
Britt discovered she had Huntington's Disease and planned to leave town. While waiting for her boat at the docks, Josslyn Jacks was attacked by The Hook. Britt intervened to help her. During the confrontation, Britt was scratched by the hook and returned to "The Haunted Star" to be with her mother as the venom took her life. Obrecht called for an ambulance, but Britt realized she wouldn't survive the trip to the hospital and passed away in her mother's arms in January 2023.
In early 2023, Nina and Willow uncovered the truth about their mother-daughter relationship, a secret also known to Carly. That same January, Michael and Willow welcomed their second child, Amelia Corinthos. They remarried in April at the Quartermaine Mansion. Nina is still trying to forge a bond with Willow and be a grandmother to Wiley and Amelia. Nina and Sonny married in October 2023 but he shunned her and served divorce papers after learning she snitched on his "family" to the feds on New Years Eve.
On April 22, 2024, Nina signed the divorce papers and returned them with her engagement and wedding rings. Nina had already started a sexual fling with frenemy Drew Quartermaine, whom Willow was very close to as an in-law. Willow in turn starts seeing a positive change in her mother that she credits towards a friendly professional relationship with Drew, and warms towards forgiving her.
Westbourne family tree[]
Descendants[]
1. Unnamed Male Westbourne Unnamed Female 2. Madeline West Dan Reeves (died c.1991) 3. Nina Reeves (1970-present) Silas Clay (1970-2015) 4. Nelle Benson (1992-2020) (twin) (Adopted by Frank) Michael Corinthos (1992-present) 5. Wiley Corinthos (2018-present) (Adopted by Willow) 4. Willow Tait (1992-present) (twin) (Adopted by Douglas and Harmony) Hank Archer (1976-2019) 5. Wiley Cooper-Jones (born/died 2018) (Adopted by Brad and Lucas) Michael Corinthos (1992-present) 5. Wiley Corinthos (2018-present) (Adopted) 5. Amelia Corinthos (2023-present) 3. Nathan West (1987-2018) (raised by Madeline using the surname "West") Maxie Jones (1986-present) 4. James West (2018-present) 2. Liesl Obrecht Cesar Faison 3. Britt Westbourne (1985-2023) (no father) 4. Rocco Falconeri (2013-present) (stole embryo and gave birth to, pretended he was her son) 3. Nathan West (1987-2018) (raised by Madeline using the surname "West") Maxie Jones (1986-present) 4. James West (2018-present)
Tree[]
- Dashed line denotes an adopted child
See also[]
- Baldwin family - Pseudo step family
- Cassadine family - Close allies
- Clay family - The family Nelle, Willow, Wiley, and Amelia were born into.
- Corinthos family - The family Rocco were born into.
- Eckert family - The family Rocco, Wiley, and Amelia were born into.
- Faison family - The family Britt, Nathan, and James was born into.
- Falconeri family - The family Rocco was born into.
- Grey family - The family Rocco was born into.
- Jones family - The family Nathan married into and James was born into.
- Quartermaine family - The family Wiley and Amelia were born into.
- Romanov family - Close allies.
- Spencer family - The family Rocco, Wiley, and Amelia were born into.
- Webber family - The family Rocco was born into.
Gallery[]
| v - e
Westbourne family | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| v - e
Families |
|---|
| Main families |
| Ashford · Baldwin · Cassadine · Chase · Corinthos · Hardy · Jacks · Jerome · Jones · Quartermaine · Scorpio · Spencer · Webber · Westbourne |
| Minor families |
| Alcazar · Barrett · Barrington · Bauer · Benson · Brewer · Byrne · Campbell · Cerullo · Clay · Collins · Davis · Devane · Drake · Durban · Eckert · Faison · Falconeri · Giambetti · Juarez · Lansing · McCall · Moore · Morgan · Ramirez · Rivera/Santiago · Romanov · Stanton · Taylor · Ward |
| Mob families |
| Five Families |
| Balkan · Corinthos · Jerome · Lavery/McKay · Novak · Rosco · Ruiz · Scully · Smith · Trujillo · Wu · Zacchara |
| Outside Port Charles |
| Chandler · Cramer · Lord · Manning |