I Grew Up In An ALL WHITE Family, Where Is MY Father?! | KARAMO

So your search began at 16. What happened?

My search began before 16, but—

Oh, look at that adorable baby.

I was 14 in that picture.

Oh yeah.

I started searching for him all my life, really. I knew I was different.

Yes.

I knew that I didn't fit in where I was at. So I knew there was something that I needed. And I didn't know where to go. I didn't know what to do.

What was it like growing up?

I lived in an all-white family. My sisters, brothers, it was just me and my sisters and my mom. And then she was married to my sister's dad and he signed my birth certificate when I was born to give me a last name so I fit in somewhere. And I'm grateful for that. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what he did for me. But still, I'm lost.

So your stepfather, that's whose name was on your birth certificate.

Mm-hmm.

And you were searching for your father's gravesite.

Yes.

And why were you searching for his gravesite?

Because I was told by a relative that he was already deceased. Mm. And so—

And what age were you when you were told that he was already deceased?

Probably 16, 17.

Oh, so you were young.

Yeah. And so I thought when I found him that I would find a gravesite and that I would just go and, I'm sorry we didn't get our chance, but I found you.

What happened then?

I didn't give up.

Yeah.

I still wanted to know if I had aunts, uncles, cousins, you name it, I wanted to know because I don't have a big family unit now. And I need a community.

Yes, of course.

You know what I mean? I'm 48 years old and all my life I just wanted somebody that looked like me, that did their hair like me.

Yeah.

Or even knew how to do my hair because Karamo, I didn't even know how to do that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

My hair used to just be like, whoo.

Yeah, yeah, it makes sense.

So I just, I wanted to make sure that when I did this search that I was going in the right direction.

So you joined a Facebook site?

Yes.

And what happened there?

I wrote this long paragraph, I'm looking for my father, his name, I gave him his name, I gave him approximately when I thought maybe he might have been born. And this lady took a couple days, But she got back with me and she was like, "Why are you looking for a gravesite?" I said, "Because he's dead." She said, "No, honey, this man is very much alive." And I went, "Alive? What do you mean?" And so she said, "I can get you in contact with some cousins, potential cousins." Maybe an aunt. And I mean, she just started rattling off all these names and Facebook pages and all kinds of stuff. So I was like, well, I'm gonna check it out. So I reached out to one of the cousins on the Facebook page. And on March 18th, 2021, she called me and Robert was on the other side.

Hold on, so what did you feel like in that moment when you find out that he's alive?

I cried.

Yeah.

I was emotionally just like, I didn't know what to think.

Yeah.

Because now I'm thinking about a ghost.

Yeah, yeah.

You know, so.

So you went from 17, 16, hearing that your potential father has passed away to now years later, 2021, you find out that he is alive in a Facebook group.

And Karamo, I didn't know what to do.

Of course not.

So when I did find him, I called my mom and I told her about it. And she was like, I don't know that you found him, Stephanie. But I feel like she took something from me.

Yes, yeah.

You know? And I want it back.

Yeah, of course. You deserve to have it back. You deserve to have it back. So back in June, you visited Robert. How did it go?

It was extremely beautiful.

Yeah. Oh, this is— oh, you got to see him. Oh wow. Did, did Robert say that he knew— here you go, love. What a beautiful moment. Did he say that he knew anything about you?

He hugged me in that video and whispered in my ear that he prayed that God would make this moment happen. And I just cried because it happened. And when he called me and said, "Hey, I need you now." I said, "What? You need me now?" He said, "I need you now." I said, "Tell me you want me to come." "and I'll find a way." And he said, "I want you to come." Because he's, is he in a hospital bed there? He's in a rehab facility.

Rehab facility, okay.

Yeah, trying to walk again.

What did it mean to you to see him for the first time?

Everything in the world.

Yeah.

Because it's like looking into a mirror.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you recently got some bad news about Robert. What happened?

On September 22nd, I was at work and I got a phone call and he passed away.

I'm so sorry, man. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry.

And he meant everything to me because we talked on the phone every other day. We had a relationship even, and he would tell me, "You're my daughter. I know you're my daughter. I believe this." And he knew things about my mom that I didn't even know.

So from 2021 till 2025, this year that he passed, you all had a phone relationship, but, and he said he knew you and that he believed you were his daughter, but you didn't get confirmation. So you start to build this relationship and not know if he actually is your biological father.

I didn't care after I met him on the phone whether or not he was my biological father or not because he loved me. He showed me love. He gave me things that I never got as a child. And when I, Talked to him the first time and he said, "I knew I had a daughter named Stephanie." And I went, "You did?" And I told him, I said, "Look, I'm not angry with you. I'm not upset with you. And I don't want anything but your love." And then he said, "You know, I have sisters and brothers." And I said, "Well, how many?" And he told me, I think 14.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Wow, wow. And you were able to connect with one of Robert's sisters, right?

[Speaker:STEPHANIE] Yes.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Tell us about that.

I reached out to her after I got off the phone with him and he told me all about his brothers and sisters. And the reason why he told me is because he said she'd be able to tell me more. So I reached out to her and I just left her a little message on Messenger and I said, this is Stephanie, your brother told me that I'm his daughter and that you're my aunt. And I just wanted to, "Find out if we're related." And she was like, "Well, it's nice to meet you, sweetheart." And we've talked ever since.

Oh, wow. We have a text between you and your possible aunt, Frances. "My dad told me you are my aunt. I'm so glad you sent me a friend request. I'm so happy to be your niece. So nice to meet you." So she's accepting. She's been loving.

Very.

Okay. Very loving. Well, listen, Frances is here, so let's welcome Stephanie's potential aunt to the show. Thank you, son.

I love you.

I love you too. How are you?

I'm fine.

How are you?

I'm good.

Thank you for being here. So tell us about your brother Robert.

My brother Robert is strong wrestler.

Yeah.

Worked on the railroad.

Yeah.

Cowboy.

Yeah.

Very, very strong physically, but in the heart, very soft.

Yeah.

And he went through something. It's okay.

I'm here.

He's just a sweet guy.

Yeah. What did Robert tell you happened between him and Stephanie's mother?

Well, Stephanie, I wanna tell you the truth, honey. Okay. Robert worked on the railroad and he was back and forth on the area. You know in the South how it is. You know Black and white couldn't be together. He really wanted to get your mom and you outta there. But he just ran away. So my heart goes out to you because I hate that you had to go through that.

Robert told me there was reasons why he didn't come back.

He sounds like he was trying to protect you from that truth.

Yes, he was.

Yeah. It sounds from your childhood that you could sense that you being biracial was an issue.

Oh, very much so.

And so, Instead of loving you for just being the child you were, it seemed as if they unconsciously or consciously took that out on you, which is one of the worst things anyone can do, to take it out on a child who just is in this world trying to just live and figure out how to be, and then they're taking out their biases on you. So I'm sorry you experienced that. So sorry. Well, I'll tell you this, if there's any support you need, we're here for you. But I do think it's time that we get answers right now. So are you ready to solve the DNA mystery? All right, Stephanie, come with me. So Stephanie, in this envelope is the DNA truth that you waited your entire life for. You were told that your potential father was passed away when you were a teenager, and then years later you find out that he was alive and you had an opportunity to meet him 2021 that has led you to this moment after his passing to confirm if that is your biological father or not. This is your truth to open, not mine. So here you go.

I'm afraid.

Yeah.

I don't, I'm afraid that if it's not, I may lose.

You won't lose us.

No.

And I can't lose my mom.

You won't lose us. We're here. You're here.

I've been waiting for this all my life. Yes. And I just want you to know, Aunt Frances, that I love you.

I love you too.

And no matter what's in this envelope, I will always love you, and I wanna thank you for taking me.

Thank you, Frances. Thank you.

I've been waiting all my life for this. I watch your show all the time and I never thought it would be so hard to open this envelope.

It brings back— Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you, Karamo, thank you, thank you.

I love you, baby.

What did it say? What did it say? Yeah!

Stephanie, Francis is your biological dad.

Yes, I'm so happy for you. I'm so happy for you. Thank you. I'm so happy for you. Oh, you deserve this moment. You deserve this. You deserve your answers. You do. You deserve this. You know who you are and where you come from. It's not a mystery anymore. You know that you belong. This is your aunt. She loves you. Yeah. Yeah. I found my dad. You did find your dad.

Yeah.

You're so welcome. You're so welcome. You're so welcome.

Thank you so much.

You're so welcome. Thank you for trusting me. To support you in getting your answers, all right? And everyone at home, stay with us, friends. We'll be right back with more.