Did My Dad Have A Secret Daughter? | KARAMO

So you confronted your father about this DNA mystery years ago.

Yes.

What happened?

It was like a family rumor, family tell-all through our family. I think I was about 5 when I first heard of the rumor.

Yeah.

7, I confirmed that he did have a daughter named Simone, but her mom and her family moved her away. Uh-huh. So I didn't really know how to go about it.

So how close were you and your father?

I was really close with my father when he was in my life, of course. Due to him being a product of drugs, him and my mom, you know, he was in and out of my life. But when he was in my life, he was there. He was very consistent. The only thing was it was like missing pieces of his story.

Got it. You never got the full truth.

Never got the full truth.

I understand. So what inspired you to want to find Simone on Facebook?

Honestly, I watch your show all the time.

Thank you, appreciate the support.

But it was one of the shows that she was looking for her sister and it took about like 39 years for them to find their sister. And so I'm like, okay, let me decide to see if I can find my sister. But what put the icing on the cake was I previously lost a sister. Oh, I'm so sorry. My mom and my father, they had 3 siblings and the oldest of our siblings, passed away. So she was my support, my best friend. And I mean, I have other siblings, but it's nothing like your sister.

Yeah, got it. Got it. I understand that. So my producers told me that you message every Simone on Facebook.

Yes, I did.

Okay.

I actually think that's really cute.

That shows that you really wanna find your sister.

Thank you. I typed in her name in Facebook and I did a 20-mile radius of Los Angeles, California.

Yes.

Because I knew my father met her mom in that city and state.

Okay.

It was like 6 to 7 people that popped up on Facebook, but I just did a process of elimination from the rumors that my father kind of told us or what I reconciled in my life. I remember that she was a darker complexion than me.

Okay.

I did know that I was older than her by 3 or 4 years.

Okay.

So I kind of took those context clues and found her.

Got it. So how do you know you found the right Simone?

Her smile.

Okay.

She smiles just like me. Our fingers, our hands, like, you know, the way she holds herself, her posture, the intellect. My father was very intellectual and we were always curious.

Yeah.

So that kind of like drawn me to her.

Got it, got it. And you recently met in person. How did that go?

Oh, it was amazing. Honestly, I never felt so comfortable. We literally—

You have a beautiful family. Thank you.

Thank you. Yes. Me and her, we set up an out-to-eat evening first. It was just me and her. And then we introduced our moms.

Do your family members support your growing relationship with Simone?

Some of them do, some of them don't. I don't really think, they just don't know, you know what I'm saying? Like the lack of not having factual information, it's kind of like you don't wanna put your heart out there to get it broken again. But I feel like it's a long truth that needs to be told. It's over 30 years and I do know who my mom and my father is, so I want that for Simone as well.

That's beautiful, that's beautiful. So why are the DNA results so important to you outside of wanting it for Simone?

It's so important to me because I lost a sister, so I'll actually gain another sister. She'll gain a sister and we can just put all the rumors to rest.

Yeah, I hear that. Well, I think it's time for us to meet Simone. What do y'all say? And hear her side of the story, right? So everyone, please welcome Simone to the show. It's insane.

Hi, Karamo.

How are you doing? Nice to meet you. Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

I do see the resemblance in your smiles. Y'all saw it too? Yeah, okay. So how do you feel about this DNA mystery?

It's been a long time coming.

Yeah.

I'm nervous, I'm anxious, I'm excited. I'm ready for the results. It's taken me 30 years to find out one answer. And my mom couldn't tell it to me. So I'm glad that I came on your show to be able to give me that relief.

That closure.

I appreciate it.

Yeah, of course. You know, one of the reasons when I got this show, it was important for me to make sure that when we did DNAs, we were able to connect people who were looking for families who are older because this happened in my own life, you know, with my child and with my sister who didn't pop up until we were older. And so these things were true to my family and I wanna make sure I can support support others. Sean reached out to you on social media in July, right?

Yeah.

What was that like? It was— 'Cause that's just a message out the blue.

Yeah, it was. It was a lot to take in. It was very overwhelming, to say the least. It was unexpected as well because this was the first time I had a sister, just any person in general, reach out to me to say, hey, I think I found you. And we have the same father.

Were you overwhelmed by her social media message?

Yeah, it was. I was super overwhelmed only because I have one Facebook.

That's the message you sent?

Exactly, that's, that's the message.

I thought you sent like a little cute message like, hey. No, all this.

Give me a call.

You were sending paragraphs, okay.

Yes.

I understand why you could have been overwhelmed then.

Even with that, that's just a lot. And then the picture said, the picture said too much. Only because that was very relevant and it related to the baby pictures that my grandmother took of me with him as well.

Oh, wow. So you have a baby photo with this man?

Yeah, unfortunately my grandmother, she lost the pictures, but I honored them when I did have them.

So prior to the situation, did you know anything about your biological father?

I knew very little based off of what my mother told me. My mother told me that Robert Ross has several kids and she only knew his name.

His name is on, is this your birth certificate?

That's my birth certificate.

And his name is on your birth certificate?

Yes, that's him, yeah.

Okay.

My mother, she's a drug addict still to this day, so she's confused herself. She gave me other clues that were very confusing and it frustrated me, it angered me.

Oh, okay.

And it just, it was a lot of just, I'm confused still. So, you know, I do have some doubts that we're not related, only because what my mother just told me after the DNA test, she said that it's a possibility that a guy named [MASKED] could be my father. And that threw me in for a loop and it made me so emotional on the way to dropping her off at home. But at the same time—

Because you're here sitting with the birth certificate, you know, Sean's reached out, so you're like, oh, we finally got somewhere. And then As you're taking the DNA test, your mother drops this bomb now and says, hold on, it could be somebody else. Yeah. So tell me about your childhood.

My childhood, I grew up, it was a lot. So my mother, she's a drug addict still to this day. So that was very difficult for me to accept and still accept because I felt like I lost a big part of me. Not only just my father's side, but also my mother as well. And so I felt like I was a lost soul for a long time. And it was just difficult. Even though I grew up with my grandmother, she raised me and she adopted me as well. And she took me from the hospital. Sometimes I felt like I wasn't protected by her too. But at the same time, I still was trying my best to find the answers that I deserve to have and the closure. Yes. And just the healing that I needed to have through a mother and a father. But I didn't get that. So I had to find it on my own and with my grandmother as well.

And with your sister.

And now with my sister, you know.

Yeah. So do you have any relationship with your biological mother at all right now?

I have some. She's still in and out the same way she was back when I was younger. You know, she was in and out due to her, due to drugs being addicted to her, you know, so to speak. So we still have a distant relationship and it's, It's kind of tough on me because sometimes I look for that mother figure in my aunties and my teachers and, you know, people outside of my family. And I adopt everybody that adopts me.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

So.

What has your mother said about this situation since you've seen her on and off a little bit? Has she said anything about this situation?

She dismisses it because she's confused herself. But once we took the DNA test not that long ago, she gave me other clues that were very confusing.

Well, Simone's grandmother, Davetta, is joining us in the audience. How you doing, Davetta?

Hi.

Do you mind if I call you Miss Davetta? I grew up in a different way.

I prefer that.

Okay, I felt uncomfortable calling you by your first name without missing it, okay. So, Miss Davetta, do you remember meeting Robert?

Vividly.

Yes.

Yeah, when I had to adopt, bring home Simone from the hospital 'cause they wouldn't release her to Tasha.

Okay.

Well, that's my daughter.

Yes.

She brought Robert over. Tasha and Robert tried to go family off somewhere and I refused to have let that happen.

Yes, yeah, you stepped in.

But I did take a picture of him while holding Simone, yeah.

So is this the man in the photo that you saw years ago?

Oh yeah, I remember as soon as Sean showed me that picture, I said, that's the shit.

That's him.

Excuse my French, sorry.

Miss Davida, I like you, okay?

Davida.

Oh yeah, you said that's it, okay. So what do you wanna say to Sebastian? What's on your heart, Ms. LeBone?

Just that how much I love her and how much she's been a joy to raise. For any shortcomings I may have had, I wanna apologize. I did the best I could.

You did a great job. 'Cause I see somebody who's here smiling and beautiful. And that apology was also beautiful, so thank you. Well, I think it's time that we get to the DNA truth. Claudia, how you feeling?

Yeah, I'm ready.

In this envelope is a DNA truth that you have been waiting over a decade, over two decades to get. This is your truth to open.

Well.

Since you called.

I did call.

I know.

Don't do that. Okay, well, I wanna let you know that I love you, Simone, regardless. What this envelope holds, and you're going to be my sister regardless, okay?

I love you too, and I accept that. We're gonna be— we're gonna be sisters forever, no matter what. Forever. Pinky promise. I can't look though. I can't. I just can't look.

Oh, you know you're gonna get the reaction. Aw, Simone. You are not my biological sister. It's okay. You still my sister. And I'll still help you come find your father if you want to. If you still wanna go through this process, I'll go with you.

Yeah.

I'm your support. You just gained a sister.

What are you feeling right now? I see you crying. What's going on in your mind?

Nothing.

Sorry.

No.

Okay, what am I feeling? I'm feeling disappointed that I couldn't make my baby this far. Yeah, you are disappointed.

I feel bad too 'cause I feel like I opened up a wound that was probably already healed or kind of healed. So I do apologize, Simone.

I want you to come on down. You can come on down here. Let me bring you down. That's all right.

Here we go.

I got you.

I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you.

I want you to start coming on up. Yeah, here you go. Take a seat right here. Well, I will tell you there is a real connection there. And you shouldn't feel guilt about this because at the end of the day, you do need your answers and you deserve your answers. And if this moment has done anything, I believe that it has brought you closer to answers because what happened, as you told me, when your mother brought the DNA, you got more answers than you ever had. And I know like you said it jokingly, but now you know there could be someone else. What are you thinking right now?

I'm really upset 'cause I believe that she was my sister based off of the story that was told and it just lined up and it matched up so well that I wasn't really in disbelief based off of all the information Sean told me. But like I said, my mama threw me in for a loop after the DNA test and she said she was shaking and I'm trying to figure out, well, what's the, Why are we nervous? You know, you believe that she's my sister and her mom believes that we're related and my grandmother, she was sure. She was very sure because—

'Cause you saw 'em when they was—

The pictures lined up so it's just like, I actually don't know what to say because I'm just trying to hold back a lot of tears that I, it's more anger to be honest. It's not even tears, it's more anger. I'm bitter, you know, I'm resentful towards my mother.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Yeah, I would love to do everything in my power to help you to figure out who this man is, you know, figure out what sites we can get on, what calls, if anybody. One of the things that has happened on the show before is that people watching remember this time and come forward information. So if you need any support, I want you to know you're not alone. You're not alone. You have your grandmother, you now have me, And you two connected hoping to be sisters. And even though the DNA truth means that you are not sisters, there's still love there. So you have her support as well.

Thank you so much. Yeah, you're welcome.