21 Years Later, I'm Second Guessing My Birth Father! | KARAMO

Ariana took to social media after finding out the man she believed to be her father might not be at all. I want y'all to take a look at this.

That I find so funny, and it's Father's Day, and no coincidence, now I have to second guess if my birth father is my birth father. 21 years later, ain't that about a bitch?

Well, Ariana says Laquan, the man she grew up knowing as her godfather, might actually be her biological dad. So today we'll try to solve this 21-year-old DNA mystery. Everyone, please welcome Ariana to the show so we can hear her side of the story.

Hi.

How are you doing? Nice to meet you, neighborhood.

Yes, you can.

So pretty.

Thank you.

Stunning. You better work.

Thank you for having me here.

You're welcome. Thank you for being here. So when did you start to question that your father was not your biological father?

Well, to be honest, growing up, I've always felt disconnected from my family.

Yeah.

So it was more like, how can I put it? Me and my family, between me and my siblings, like if you really do a comparison, I'm like 6'3". Now the rest of my family is below 5'11". Everyone. So it's not mathing, it's not making sense. Now I'm also feeling, I've always been the black sheep of my family also. So it's just not—

So height, you're feeling isolated, black sheep. Those are the reasons why you felt like, okay. And what made you post that video?

It was Father's Day that day and people were posting videos and pictures of their fathers. And I felt very much outta place. I felt abandoned. I felt like nobody cared about me. I felt like I didn't have anyone. And I've been like that my whole entire life. So I just—

That makes sense to why you felt like—

I took it to Facebook.

Yeah, that makes sense why you felt like the black sheep. So did you confront your mother about what she said?

Yes, I did. I confronted the situation and it didn't come out. We didn't have a conversation. We didn't talk about anything. It was dismissed.

Mm-hmm.

So let me be clear 'cause I wanna just make sure everyone's clear. So you went to your mother and said, "Mom, is this my father?" No, I actually spoke to Laquan first. Okay.

I actually called him.

Okay.

And I asked him, I said, "Do you know my mom?" He's like, "Yeah, I know your mom since she was 11." Now that took a shot to my chest already. So I also asked him, "Do you think I could be your daughter?" He's like, "Now that I think about it, you look like, you look like my daughters." So, and let me be clear, Laquan is your godfather? Yes.

So he's been in your life since you were born?

Mm-hmm.

Has he been an active godfather or sort of like you just knew he's your goddad?

I would say he didn't have a say.

Okay.

I was hardly home.

Okay, you were hardly home. Okay then. And so, but you had enough contact that you could just call him and talk to him?

Yes.

Okay then. Did you ever ask the man who raised you if he was your father?

He kind of disappeared out of the picture after I had my daughter. Okay.

And how long ago did you have your daughter?

4 years ago.

4 years ago. So what happened after you posted that video?

I had gotten a message from a family friend. She said, "You thought that this was your father this whole time?" Now you don't say that to nobody. You don't say that to no one.

And who is this?

This is a family friend.

You said, "Told me from young you and blank had separate dads but was there since the birth." Okay, so there was always questions for you. They told me, yeah.

Disciplined differently.

So you were disciplined differently from the rest of your siblings? Okay, how did all this make you feel when you got this message?

I'm nervous, I'm anxious, I don't even know how to even handle half of that.

Got it.

'Cause you don't just say that to people.

Yeah.

You don't.

I understand that. Because out of the blue, all of a sudden your identity is being questioned. Yes. And yes, you've had some issues where you didn't feel like you were included anyway, but to actually hear it, it hurts.

Mm-hmm.

I understand that. And so how did Laquan come into the picture for you to even make that call? What just popped in your head?

All right.

Let me give you this.

Honestly, one day I was scrolling through Facebook and I happened to see him in a picture with his daughters. Now, one of the daughters looks exactly like me when I was young. And it was like a shot to my chest.

I'd never seen no one look like me like that, or my siblings. So I didn't like that at all.

Yeah.

So I called him and I asked him, Could I be your daughter?

Do you think I could be your daughter? And he told me, when he told me he knew my mom since I was 11, that just answered all my questions. All my questions.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Got it. I understand that. I understand that. I can understand what a photo of seeing someone who looks like you, because especially if you were in a family where you felt like no one looks like me, none of y'all, y'all in my height, y'all got my face. And then you see a child that you're like, hold up. It shocked you. I think it's time to meet Laquan and hear his side of the story. So everyone, please welcome Laquan to the show. How you doing, Laquan?

All right, how you doing?

Good, thank you. So what do you have to say about what you just heard?

Initially, I was in shock when it was brought to my attention. 'Cause like I said, I've been around, well, like she said, I've been around Ariana for years at the godfather capacity. Not like I would've never, I would've never thought anything other than that.

Got it. What went through your mind when Ariana reached out?

Realistically, I was actually in, like I said, I was in shock 'cause I was at work. When she initially texted me and asked if we could speak, I said I was at work and she asked me if she would be able to call me. So I was like, yeah. And then I actually called her, but she didn't answer. So she called me back like 5 minutes later and just started asking me questions about me and her family. Like, you know what I'm saying? Like how long have we known each other, things of that nature. Towards the end of the conversation, she asked me like if it was possible that I could be her father. And when I tell you I was stuck, like literally the cigarette dangling on my lip, I'm like, oh wow. 'Cause it kind of caught me off guard, so to speak. I mean, we pretty much had a fairly decent rapport, so it was like she could feel comfortable to speak with me about certain things, but. It's like we spoke more now since, you know, since her asking me.

So let me ask you, were you with Ariana's mother? Intimately?

Actually, yeah. We kind of had like an off and on thing since like the 9th grade.

And when did you begin to think that Ariana might be yours?

Like I said, it would've never been something that I had to question or even really think about until she brought it to my attention. That's when I really started looking at her. Like, she really does kind of look like my oldest daughter. Like, I start paying attention more to the little details when it come to certain things that I really wasn't focused on before 'cause I didn't feel like I had to be focused on.

Yeah, yeah. Can I ask the two of y'all to stand up? I wanna see if the audience feels like, just say real crazy. Can I see?

Y'all would do that and she got the heels on.

She got the heels on, but still.

Yeah, she got the heels on.

Extra 2 inches.

Yeah, I know you're taller than me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. What do y'all think? Y'all see it?

Yeah, that's crazy.

Some of y'all don't? Okay, okay, I was just wondering. Are your other children really tall?

Yes, my daughters are like 5'10" and 5'11". 5'10" and 5'11".

Okay then. What do your daughters think about all this?

I mean, initially when I brought this to their attention, at first they were under the impression that I was talking about somebody maybe younger than them and I'm like, nah, like it's a possibility. Possibility I might have like an older sister.

Wow. Is this an emotional moment for you?

Yeah, 'cause like I said, like I've been around her. It's not like I was like across country and just like only spoke on the phone. Like I've been to her house. She's seen me go through a lot. Like I've been around the family. I've been there. Like the last time I was at her family's house was just April.

Yeah. Well, I think it's time to unlock this DNA truth.

You know what I mean?

You saying, Ariana, you've been through a lot, and him being around, I'm sure that you've just been wanting answers. And in this envelope is the DNA truth that you've been waiting for to understand where you belong. This is your truth to open, not mine. Are you ready?

Honestly, no.

I don't wanna be wrong.

I mean, look, man, look, at the end of the day, come on, at the end of the day, I'm gonna still be around in the first place, so.

I did not have to come here. I could have had a conversation.

I did not have to come here.

It's cool.

Okay.

Before you open that, can I ask you, where's your mom? Where's your mom?

She don't care about nobody but herself.

Well, I'll tell you this, in this moment, I know this is a hard moment for you, but Laquan is here for you. He's been through your life. He's here to support you. You also have my support as well. So we're with you no matter, we're with you no matter what the answer is.

I can't even keep my, I'm so nervous right now.

Yeah, like I said, man, regardless of whatever, man, I'm still here, man. If you really mind, I'm in the picture more. I just gotta step it up. But regardless of whatever, I'm still gonna be around, you know what I'm saying? I'm still gonna be there.

Laquan is not your father. She did not have to let me come here.

I'm so sorry, love.

I'm dying.

I'm so sorry.

I'm dying.

What has your mother told you about your father or who your father could be? What has she told you?

She didn't say anything. It's just the comment. Me feeling disconnected, me going through what I was going through with my family, it didn't make sense. It did not make sense at all.

Yeah. Laquan, since you've been around so long, do you have any ideas who her actual biological father is?

It can't be this man. It can't, it can't be.

I mean, honestly, I never, I always thought that the one that raised her was was the father, like I never even thought.

Yeah.

He can't be.

Do you see similarities in them? Do you see similarities to Quan in him? Never?

No. No.

So the person who has the answers that you need is your mother, unfortunately she's not willing to give them.

She's not gonna tell me anything, my mom is too stuck in her pride to care about anybody feeling other than her own.

Got it.

Me being here today, the crazy part is, I didn't have to come here. All she had to do was talk to me or to Laquan. She didn't speak. She kept it to herself.

Got it.

And let me spiral, let me question. And regardless of what the question was about, she never answered. It's like you want me to spiral outta control. You want me to go, you want me to do all these things for what?

I didn't ask to be here.

I did not ask to be here. You didn't have to have me.

Well, listen, I will tell you this. If you need my support, one of the things that I know how to do very well is to help mother-daughters, families mend. So if you need my support in talking to your mom again and getting you answers and helping her to understand how you feel, I'm here for you. So any support you need, I wanted to take the offer to you to know that it is here, okay? And so I'm so sorry. I'm really here. I wish you the best of luck though, and I'm so sorry. All right, everyone, thank you for being with us. Make sure to come back next time, friends, so we can keep talking and growing. I love you all. How you doing? This is Karamo from the Karamo Show. Your daughter, um, Ariana, was just on my show and she received some unfortunate news and she's hurting in a lot of pain. And I realized that the only way she's gonna get answers and closure and healing is by the information that you have. And so I'm calling you because I want to support you and your daughter in that healing and your daughter getting what she needs. So I'm asking you to please give me a call back so we can talk so that I can support you all because your daughter needs, needs a lot of support right now and I want to be here for you all. Give me a call back when you get this.

Bye-bye.