Are You My Mother Or My Sister?! | KARAMO

So you believe that your sister might be your mom?

Yes, I do believe that my sister might possibly be my mom, and I'm here to have you help me find out the truth.

So why do you believe that Christina could be your mom?

Multiple reasons. First being the big age gap of 20+ years between me and my other siblings, and my mother being 46 when she had me, and it just kind of never added up.

So you're saying that the woman who raised you was 46, that's your mom? Yes. And so you're saying because she was so much older that you're like, there was a thing. And what is the age gap between you and your sister?

22?

22 years, got it. So my producers told me that you found a photo or something.

Yes.

Can you tell me about that photo?

So the first photo I found was from my first birthday and it was a picture of my birthday cake and it said Francine on it, which didn't make sense because my name's Francesca. And I was just like, did they spell it wrong? What happened there? But then I found another picture of my sister Christina in a wedding dress pregnant.

Oh.

And then on the back of it, it said a month before my birthday. So I messaged my sister-in-law, I sent her the picture. She said, you know, this is something you gotta talk to Christina about. So I texted Christina, I said, "Hey, is there anything you need to tell me?" She goes, "No, why?" I'm like, "Are you sure about that?" She goes, "Yeah." I said, "So what's this?" And I sent her the picture.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Hold on, we have that photo. Can we pull it up so everyone can see? So this is the photo that you had and it had happy birthday.

[Speaker] Francine.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Francine.

[Speaker] Kinda like towards the bottom.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Okay.

And then there was that.

And this is a photo of your sister.

Yes.

And this was her pregnant.

About a month before my birthday, when I was born.

Got it, okay, so now you're on the phone with her and you said, "So is there anything you care to tell me? Any big secrets you have?" She said, "No, why?" You sent him the photo. You a little messy for sending that photo, by the way, you know that? Yeah. 'Cause you sent over the okie doke. You like, "Hey, hold on, you guys." "Oh no, you don't?" Boom, okay. So he says, "Sure about that? Where did you get that?" Hmm, that's an interesting response. "That doesn't matter. Are you gonna come clean or not?" Clean about what? "That I was married?" And what else? "Pregnant?" Okay, wow, okay. And so what did you do after that?

Well, after that, I messaged my other sister to see if she had anything to say. She told me, "Go talk to her mom." So I called my mom and she denied the whole thing when I asked her about it.

Got it, okay.

I said, is there anything, you know, you wanna tell me? And I told her about the picture that I found, Chrissy pregnant, married. She goes, oh yeah, Chrissy, you know, lost the baby.

Got it.

I said, are you sure about that?

Yeah.

I was like, did she lose the baby or did you take the baby? And was that baby me?

Ooh.

Because it doesn't add up with the timeframe.

Of course, of course. Of course.

So she started yelling, screaming, arguing, denying, denying, denying. And that was about a year ago I found out.

Wow. So let me stop really quickly because I know that I'm joking about you being messy on there, but like also, also this is a lot.

It is.

Because you're trying to piece together things and looking at them and one point maybe you're far off, but the other part it seems like your soul is telling you that there could be something here.

Yeah.

Why is this maternity test important to you?

As of right now, I feel like I don't have a mother and I wanna know for sure because the mother that I thought I knew growing up could possibly not be. And it's just, I just need to know for sure.

Okay. Well, I think it's time to meet Christina, your sister, who you think potentially could be your mother and hear what she has to say. Everyone, please welcome Christina to the show. Hi, Christina, thank you for being here.

Thank you.

So Christina, I have to ask you, what do you feel about what you just heard?

Well, right now I want just the results. I wanna see the results and let the truth be out.

Well, we don't usually get to it this fast, but, okay, listen, okay. I think it is time for you to solve This 26-year-old DNA mystery. Yeah. Francesca, you have went on your own search and it seems like you're putting clues together and your sister is saying it's time for you to get to your truth. So here's your truth to know if this is your sister or your mother. Thank you.

Christina is your biological mother.

Oh! Which I— So— Okay, so you feel like something that pit in your stomach?

Yeah, it just like just hit me in my stomach right now.

Yeah, I can understand now why you're trying to get to this because obviously you've known the truth.

I've known the truth, of course, my whole life.

Why did you hide such a big secret?

I didn't wanna hide the secret. I always wanted her to know the truth. It was just my parents, they wanted to keep the secret.

So can I be clear? So is her mother her grandmother? Mm-hmm.

Wow.

Yes.

Did you suspect that?

I've always had a feeling with—

'Cause of the age.

The age and just everybody always say too, like, oh, is that your grandmother? Is that your grandmother? I'm so old and I'm just like. No, that's my mother, but.

Yeah, are you in a bit of shock?

Little bit, yeah. Still been in a shock.

Yeah. Christina, why did your mother take custody of your daughter?

Yeah, I'd love to know that actually.

Well, I got pregnant with her before I, Got married to her biological father. He had left us and I was just confused. I didn't know what to do being a single parent and I was still young. I wish things were different. It's just things I didn't know back then. And my parents offered to help me with her and Couple years later down the road, they wanted to adopt her.

Did you have other children after Francesca?

Yes.

Okay.

I have two, a boy and a girl.

Did you know those kids growing up?

As my niece and nephew.

Now you know them as your sister and brother.

Which is a big, huge difference.

Yeah.

My other two knew the truth.

Wow.

That kind of just—

Wow.

I'm growing up thinking my niece and my nephew are my niece and my nephew. But then they're growing up like, oh, she's actually my sister and we have to keep this whole big secret from her. Wow.

I would tell people she's my daughter because—

Yeah, tell her.

I couldn't come out and say she's my sister to other people.

You could have told people and you could have told me and everybody else that I was your daughter. Because once I turned 18, what are they gonna do?

Well, I'll tell you this, there's gonna be a lot of healing that has to happen here. But what I want you to know is it sounds like this was for your best, as misguided as it was. And if you can hold onto the fact that they kept you in the family, I've seen stories like this where people were removed from the family and were left alone and always like, well, why was I the only one? They were trying to keep you close. Misguided, very misguided. But at least you know the pillars players in your family, you know what was going on. And I hope that at least gives you a little comfort that the people around you were at least trying to show you care. And if you wanna rebuild a relationship, it will never be a mother-daughter relationship, I don't believe. But you can build a relationship full of trust if you can be transparent with her from this point on.

Yes.

Yeah? Well, I'll tell you this, there is actually another part to this DNA story because my producers were telling me that you actually went on an ancestry test.

So I was messing around one day because I like to go on the ancestry websites just to see.

You a little investigator. We might need to hire you here. Okay.

So I—

You looking for a job? 'Cause we might need to get you here 'cause you good at what you do. Yep.

I like to go on the ancestry websites to find relatives and stuff like that and do some searching and stuff. And this name popped up that I've never seen before. So I was like, I'm gonna look her up and, you know, see. And I found her on social media. So I sent her a message and I was like, hey, so I think we might possibly be related. We were trying to figure out how we were possibly related and found out that she doesn't know who her father is. "And I don't know who my biological father is." So I was like, "You interested in possibly taking a DNA test to find out?" And she was just, "Yep." She's like, "Yes, let's do it." So that's another reason why I'm here with you.

Christina, do you know anything about this potential sister?

I didn't know anything about it until she told me.

Nothing about it at all? Okay. Well, listen, I'm gonna have you sit in the audience while we figure this one out. First of all, you have been dealing with so much. I will tell you, your resiliency and also composure is to be admired. Thank you. Because I gotta be honest with you, if I found out that my sister was my mother and then also went on a DNA test and found out that I might have a sister out there, I don't know if I'd be so composed. So I honor you for that.

I've had time to kind of process it a little bit. To process it, yeah. 'Cause trust me, when I've, Originally found all this out, I kind of, it didn't, it took me a little bit to finally hit and then I kind of just lost it all. So I've had time to process.

Christina, can I ask you one more question? When was the last time you talked to her biological father?

When I asked him for a divorce.

So you haven't talked to him in 24 years?

Nope.

Wow, okay. Nope. Okay. So for the record, Francesca, the young lady you spoke to that you found on social media, her name is Leanne. And you two have never met.

No.

Well, you're gonna be meeting today for the first time. So everyone, please welcome Leanne to the show. Hi, Leanne. Thank you for being here. So what's going through your mind right now?

Well, this is surreal.

Especially also hearing this story first. Were you expecting to hear that? No. Yeah.

I was not expecting that.

I wasn't expecting it at all. Okay then. So let's, Leanne, let's go back. You get a message from Francesca. What did you think?

I almost didn't respond 'cause I thought it was a prank.

You thought it was a prank?

I didn't expect her to.

Yeah, 'cause if somebody had sent me that message, I'd have probably been like, no, this is spam or a scam or something. Right. Well, we have that message. I wanna see what it says. It says, I was adopted by my grandparents and just found out all this back in March. Who is your father? I don't know my bio father. And whenever I would ask my mother about it, she would never tell me. So maybe your grandparents are mine? So that's what, so you two think you might have the same grandparents?

Something.

We don't know how we're related.

Yeah. Leanne, do you have a similar story?

So, similar. I was raised by my grandma.

Okay.

And then my mom's sister took over custody.

Got it. So what about your father in your life?

So my stepfather has been in my life since I was 5. So I've called my stepdad my dad.

Okay.

And I thought he was my dad until one day my mother, she told me, That's not your father. And I was like, all right, then who is? Got it. And then she mentioned his name one time and she never talked about him ever.

What was it like growing up for you?

So growing up was hard 'cause I resented my bio mom because she wasn't the one raising me. And I had mandated court visitations. To see my mother every Sunday. And I never wanted to go 'cause as far as I knew, my grandma was my mom.

Yeah, that was your mother. That was the one who took care of you, your grandmother. Do you have other siblings?

As far as I know, I am the only child from my mother, but from supposedly our bio father, We have other siblings.

So you think maybe that you could be related by your biological father possibly? Yes. So not grandparents.

No.

Biological father.

Possibly.

Possibly.

'Cause our supposedly bio dad has the same name and we both didn't know who he was.

Who he was. Got it, okay.

That's my pre-adopted dad. Name, kind of.

That was the name that you had pre-adopted?

I had his name. Name.

And that was the same name you had?

Mm-hmm.

Okay. Have you met any of the other siblings, possibly on your bio dad's side?

No.

No.

Never.

Okay then. So we're hoping today that maybe you two could be sisters. Is that something you're both hoping for?

It'd be nice. I've always wanted, like, I don't wanna say little sister, 'cause you're only like, 2 years?

A year and a half.

You're 2 years younger than me? But like, I've always wanted a younger sister 'cause growing up everybody was older than me.

Yeah. So. So a year and a half, this would mean, Christina, that if they are sisters, the man that you were married to also had another woman in that time.

Yeah.

Okay. Well listen, I think it's time for you to get your answers. This is both of your truths. Are you nervous? You are? Well, this is both of your truths, so I'm gonna go ahead and pass the envelope to Francesca for you all to find out if you're potentially sisters.

My hands are sweaty.

Why aren't you? Okay.

I told you.

I knew it!

So this is your sister. Oh my God. I knew it! How do you feel? This is your sister.

This is crazy 'cause we grew up in the same town.

We pretty much did. I grew up like in Poughkeepsie, which is only 15 minutes from where she lives.

15, 20 minutes from my town.

Oh my gosh. So what are your thoughts about this? Because your daughter, not your sister, has a new sister.

You don't know.

Congratulations to her. Are you happy?

Yeah.

Yeah. What's making you so happy about this?

I know I've had, I had technically siblings, but it's nice to know that I actually have an actual biological sibling that is not my aunt or my uncle.

Yeah.

Or my niece though.

Yeah. Yeah. Also, I'm sure it's comforting that though your stories, you don't deserve to not have had the information and the support as children, there is some comfort in knowing that you two have similar stories.

Yeah.

And that especially when you talked about before feeling like, I just want transparency, I want people to tell me the truth. You two know you have each other, that you've always given each other the truth, always been transparent. And that's a great foundation to build a sisterhood off of. So I'm happy for the both of you. And girl, I'm glad you got all your answers, okay?

Pretty much, yeah.