Yes, Barbra Streisand cloned her dogs. This is the strange story...

Legendary singer and actress Barbra Streisand cloned her dog, Samantha (pictured), after the 14-year-old Coton de Tulear passed away in 2017. It's a story of love, loss, science and money. Here's what you didn't realize you needed to know.

In her new memoir, Barbra revealed that she took Samantha with her everywhere, no matter the destination. That included to the White House, despite its no dogs policy. While it got her in trouble with the Secret Service, President Obama let them both in. "Whatever Barbra wants, Barbra gets," he said.

The firm ViaGen, which started in 2015, told the BBC in 2022 that it is cloning "more and more pets every year" and has cloned hundreds since it opened shop in 2015. Today, it costs $50,000 to clone a dog or cat.

The first ever cloned mammal was the famous sheep named Dolly. The sheep went on to have several little lambs of her own but was euthanized at age six due to lung disease and severe arthritis. Despite the controversy, researchers say she didn't die young due to being a clone (the average sheep life expectancy is around ten years).

Photo: Toni Barros / Wikimedia

In an article published in the New York Times in 2018, Babs said she wanted to clone her dog Samantha because she was devastated by her death. "After 14 years together, I just wanted to keep her with me in some way," she said. Her friend had cloned her dog with good results, so she decided to do it too.

Streisand said that most people want straight-haired Coton de Tulear dogs, but her husband picked out curly-haired Samantha as an anniversary gift. "She was the odd one, different, just like I felt as a little girl," wrote the singer and actress. Also, she said she chose to clone Sammie because it was hard to find another curly-haired dog of the same breed.

Photo: @barbrastreisand / Instagram

As Streisand described it, the only thing she needed to do (besides pay) was get Sammie's doctor to take some cells from inside her cheek and the skin on her tummy just before she died. The genetic material was sent to the lab in the hopes that the cloning process would work.

After Sammie died and Streisand was waiting to hear back from the lab, she adopted a little rescue Maltipoo who she named Sadie, after the first dog she ever owned (pictured).

Shortly after, her dog breeder called and said she had a little puppy up for adoption, whose mom was named Funny Girl. "It felt like fate," wrote Barbra, so she took in the dog and named her Miss Fanny.

Photo: @barbrastreisand / Instagram

The cloning process was a huge success. The lab called and told Streisand she now had FOUR clones of her dear dog. The runt, unfortunately, died before delivery, but Babs still wasn't ready to have five puppies. She decided to give Sadie to her manager's assistant, and the 13-year-old daughter of another colleague got one of the clones.

Even after giving the two puppies away, in 2018, Barabara was a bit overwhelmed with three puppies in her home: Miss Fanny, Miss Violet, and Miss Scarlett.

Photo captioned "Basket of adorables" @barbrastreisand / Instagram

While still dealing with puppies, Streisand noted that the dogs looked just like Samantha but had their own personalities. "You can't clone the soul," she wrote. The company ViaGen says clones are like identical twins.

Photo: Scarlett and Violet in 2018 @barbrastreisand / Instagram

Streisand has shared photos on Instagram showing clones Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett in front of the original dog, Samantha's gravestone. "Scarlet and Violent missing their mom," wrote Streisand.

Photo: @barbrastreisand / Instagram

Over the last few years, Streisand's life has been filled with more adorable family members — two new grandchildren: Westlyn and Chapel.

Photo: Westyln playing with the dogs in 2020 @barbrastreisand / Instagram

Streisand regularly posts photos of her fur babies on Instagram, often with funny captions. In March 2020, just after COVID hit, she showed one of her pooches hiding from all the horrible news.

Photo: @barbrastreisand / Instagram

In May, Streisand posted that her straight-haired Coton de Tulear, a distant relative of Samantha's, had turned five.

Photo: @barbrastreisand / Instagram

Despite health warnings about clones, which science now says are overblown, Miss Violet and Miss Scarlett are still going strong. In September, they celebrated their fifth birthday!

Photo: @barbrastreisand / Instagram

The story of her clones isn't the only amazing chapter in Barbra's life and nearly 1,000 page memoir. In 'My Name is Barbra' she dishes on her many flings, enemies and thoughts about her career.

Read more:
The spiciest revelations from Barbra Streisand's memoir