"Alison Carey"

	Alison

Alison Carey is Mariah's older sister. A year after Morgan was born, Patricia Hickey gave birth to a second child, a girl named Alison (sometimes sources say incorrectly Allison). Alison got married at an early age and gave birth to her first child (Shawn) when she was only 18. Ten years later, she gave birth to her other child, Michael.

Mariah and Shawn at Robert Kennedy Jr. III's birthday party in 2006

Shawn grew up with his father Richard. His parents divorced when he was only two. Mariah and Shawn are very close. Mariah actually gave him some financial support for his studies. Shawn is very attached to Mariah because she taught him that he could do whatever he wanted in life, provided that he had faith in it. Shawn played in his college football team, and he owns two apartments, one in Boston and an other in New York. Shawn can also be seen in the "Can't take that away (Mariah's theme)" video.
Michael is Shawn's half brother. Alison got infected with the HIV virus when Michael was born. "When I found out she had AIDS, I must have cried for days," Mariah confessed to Bravo magazine not too long after she discovered her sister had contracted the incurable and ultimately fatal disease. When she stopped crying, Mariah had to deal with a conflicting array of emotions over her sister and her plight. A big part of her was just plain sad. She was also forgiving of Alison's choices and the mistakes that had led her to prostitution and drugs and which had finally brought her to this point. Mariah was not finding it difficult to comprehend that her sister was experiencing such a difficult time.
Making matters worse was the fact that Alison was so wrapped up in her disease, continued drug dependency, and her downward spiraling lifestyle that she was totally incapable of taking care of Michael. After much hand-wringing and soul-searching, Mariah and her mother tried to get her sister some help. They offered to pay for Alison to get into a drug-treatment program and to get her AIDS counseling so that she could learn to live with the disease and possibly get some treatment. However, in the midst of her self-pity and misdirected anger toward her family - in particular Mariah - she wanted no part of their help. When she refused to get treatment for her myriad problems, Mariah and Patricia took the next, admittedly drastic, step and arranged for Michael to come and live with Patricia. However, this intervention came at a heavy price. The long-simmering anger and jealousy that Alison directed at Mariah for what she felt was the favouritism shown her younger sister because of her talent finally boiled over. Despite Mariah's public insistence that they were patching things up, the relationship between the two sisters was, for all intents and purposes, over. "I haven't spoken to my sister in a long time, but I hope she's well," Mariah told Time magazine. "But everything seems to have worked itself out."
Mariah and her mother brought many lawsuits against Alison in order to get joint custody of Michael. They wanted him to grow up in a sheltered environment, away from his drug-addicted mom. Eventually, Patricia was given custody of Michael. He made a cameo in "Glitter", he's the boy who's talking on the phone. Dice kicks him out when Mariah suddenly gets out of the cab after having heard for the first time her song on the radio.
Alison's life has never been a bed of roses. In June 2006, Alison was caught in a sting operation at the West Shore Marina in Huntington, Long Island, where she was booked for her second prostitution offense. Alison pled guilty and got free on probation. She allegedly said that she was prostituting herself to financially help Mariah to become famous. It is said that she tried unsuccessfully to shop around a tell-all book.