Why It Seems Like Amelia & Derek's Sisters Come Out Of Nowhere On 'Grey's Anatomy'

Grey’s Anatomy had over a decade of wonderful, glorious time with Derek Shepherd before his untimely passing in a car accident. That said, we didn’t spend a ton of time with his family, thanks to the fact that most of them weren’t on the West Coast, like he was, and also, Meredith didn’t seem like the family type. She had her own family problems, and Meredith was too twisty and damaged to deal with anyone else’s messed-up family but her own. With Derek’s final sister (he has four) about to make an appearance (finally), it’s time for a recap of Derek’s sisters on Grey’s Anatomy.

Derek’s father owned a shop, and he was killed in an attempted robbery when Derek was just a kid. In fact, Derek and his sister, Amelia, saw the whole thing happen, which sent Amelia many times into a spiral because Amelia (more on that later). Due to his dad’s untimely death, Derek was raised with his mother and his four sisters, which was a lot of feminine energy. It’s probably why he was mostly such a good partner — he knew how to talk to women, how to emphasize with them… and also, he was totally hot. Though Derek is dead and Meredith has moved on, Mer and Der’s kids still want to see their aunts — and vice versa. Grey’s Anatomy has an Amelia-centric episode coming up, so you know the family fur is going to fly. What else do we know about these women?

Kathleen Shepherd

Entertainment Tonight reports Amy Acker of The Gifted will play Kathleen “Kate” Shepherd. The elusive fourth Shepherd sister is a psychiatrist. Not much else is known about Kathleen, but she has been mentioned before — in Season 9, Meredith mentioned that Kate was a good mom, and Meredith made sure Derek’s sisters were contacted when he needed a nerve donation to fix his hand after their plane crash. But that’s all she wrote!

Amelia Shepherd

Amelia has been around for, I don’t know, a decade in television time, so everyone knows the youngest of Derek’s siblings. She suffered with addiction for many years, and then she got sober. Then, she got a brain tumor and continued to make poor decisions, most notably dating and marrying Owen Hunt. Thankfully, that’s over, and Amelia continues to be a badass neurosurgeon like her big brother, with just-as-good hair.

Nancy Shepherd

Nancy and Meredith got off to a rocky start when Meredith discovered his sister in a towel, only she didn’t know it was his sister. Nancy loved to call Meredith the “slutty intern” back then, and maybe she still loves it now — when Meredith called all of Derek’s sisters for that nerve donation, Nancy still refused to speak to Meredith, all those years later. Lady, they are married with children! Let’s hope their relationship is better now. She is also a doctor — a gynecologist.

Liz Shepherd

She is the sister that showed up to donate the nerve that was supposed to save Derek’s hand and get him back into surgery post-plane crash. Liz definitely has kids, as she referenced them when Meredith told Liz about her own pregnancy, and Liz, like the other Shepherd kids, is also a doctor (not sure what kind, though).

These four women were a huge part of Derek’s life, so it’s only natural that Grey’s Anatomy would want to give them the time that they deserve on-screen. Meredith has nieces and nephews, as does Amelia, so shouldn’t they find some time to meet? As Grey’s goes on, perhaps they can make it more of a family affair — if everyone plays nice.