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[font=garamond] Phoebe and her twin sister, Ursula, are the result of a sexual relationship between Phoebe Abbott, Frank Buffay and Lily Buffay. Phoebe Abbott wasn't ready to be a mother, so Lily and Frank adopted both twins and raised them together. Frank abandoned Lily and the twins, and then later married another woman. Her step-father went to prison, and Lily committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. Phoebe was living on her own on the streets of New York City by the age of 14. At one time, she lived in a burnt-out Buick LeSabre. She never attended high school or college, but she ostensibly met behind a dumpster with a small group of three to learn French. She became fluent in French, as evidenced in "The One Where Joey Speaks French." She also speaks some Italian, and has a short conversation in Italian with Joey's grandmother, Nonnie in "The One Where Ross Can't Flirt." Her language skills are treated somewhat inconsistently. She misunderstands when one of Monica's assistants introduces himself as a sous-chef, and she does not appear to understand Rachel's Italian boyfriend, Paolo. Neither can any the other five friends.

Phoebe occasionally resorted to mugging to survive. At one point, when she was 14, she mugged Ross. (This was when these future friends were still strangers). One of the stolen items was the only existing copy of Ross's comic book, Science Boy ("The One With The Mugging").

Phoebe mentions that she lived in Prague. She also states that she lived with an albino man who washed windows outside Port Authority, as well as a, "guy named Sidney who talked to his hand." She claims that she got hepatitis, when a pimp spat in her mouth. On her sweet sixteen, she was chased around a tire yard by an escaped mental patient who, "in his own words, wanted to 'kill me or whatever' ." ("The One With The Home Study").

Her previous lifestyle and wild stories have shocked her friends. When she tells the story of the time she stabbed a cop, their obviously surprised looks cause her to retort, "What? He stabbed me first!" Phoebe has picked up an impressive talent for boxing at a YMCA, where, according to her, the guys, "weren't being Christian enough" ("The One With The Race Car Bed"). Phoebe met and moved in with Monica, which began their friendship. While still living with her, Phoebe married a gay Canadian ice dancer, Duncan, in order to help him obtain a green card. At the time, Phoebe was secretly in love with him. Monica claims that when Duncan left, she saw Phoebe eating a cheeseburger. Years later, Duncan returns unexpectedly to request a divorce from Phoebe because he has realized that he isn't really gay, and that he is in love with a woman. In 1993, Phoebe, not being able to take Monica's obsessive neatness, started to secretly move out. She moved her furniture piece by piece into her grandmother's apartment ("The One With The Flashback").

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