UK: abandoned son can never forgive his lottery winning mother

Interesting that the Euromillions lets you keep your identity secret. AFAIK, the Powerball and MegaMillions lotteries in the US require you to identify yourself and take part in publicity for them.

It seems to me that she is undeserving of this prize. Any decent mother would automatically call up their child and tell him/her the good news and make sure they get the education they need to at least get ahead in life. If she left him at the age of 12, how could he have really been that bad for her to have walked away from him? It does reflect rather poorly on her that she hasn't contacted him at all. If, what he says is true, I can't say as I blame him for speaking up and letting people know just what kind of character she appears to have.

It depends on your state law.  Most states require winners of prizes to be named publicly, but I don't think you are then required to do ads or anything for Powerball.

If I should win the jackpot, do I have the option of remaining anonymous as far as the public and the media are concerned?

In most states, lottery winner information is public domain, therefore it is public information.  Publicized information normally includes the jackpot winner's name, city, county, game in which they won, date won, and the amount of the prize.

http://www.usamega.com/powerball-faq.asp

I assume it is supposed to be made public to avoid people scamming the system.

If she left him at the age of 12

She didn't "leave" him; he and his father left the trailer where all three had been living. The son now says she "threw them out". We do not know how accurate that is or what events led up to it. All kinds of things could have happened. I have known a big strong woman of 35 hospitalized by her 12 year old son.

Trial by Daily Mail.  This is why i'd never announce my lottery win, two sides to every story and all that.

Oh totally!  Neither of them seem to be people I would want to hang out with, which is why I would never want to go public.