Is Newly Discovered Cousin Actually Her Dad | Karamo Reacts | KARAMO

Baby, I look good in that burgundy on burgundy. Y'all better learn. It's about coordination. You better be on that tone on tone on tone. Best outfit. You look great.

Thank you.

I remember Nishae.

Yes.

Mm, come on, pretty in pink. Oh, Nishae was so pretty. I just remember her. She was fly. How did you end up on Ancestry in the first place?

Well, basically, I was just going on there honestly to look up my heritage and to actually help my mom as well. She doesn't know who her father is, so we wanted to look up some things and figure something out.

[Speaker] Wow, okay. And so you connect with this person, you realize you have connections.

[Speaker] Right, so as I was on the Ancestry, I seen that I was related to about 5,000-something people. And basically there was a match, it was a guy, on my dad's side, supposedly, 4th cousin. And we had about 49% shared DNA. So 50% is kind of a lot. So, you know, I hit him up like, "Hey cousin, what's going on?" And he didn't respond back. This was in 2021 and he barely responded back this year. So—

And when he responded back, And that's when he said, "I think I could be your father." He basically responded, "Do you think we could talk?

Do you think you can give me a call or we can like meet up possibly? There's some questions I wanna ask you." Of course. So I was like confused. I'm like, "What do you mean questions?" So I found him on Facebook and we connected there. I gave him a call and he basically asked me like what was my mom's name. I told him my mother's name. He asked me for a picture. I sent him a picture and he was like, "Yeah, we have to talk in person." What did that do to you in that moment?

'Cause you're thinking this man is your cousin.

Yeah.

And you're like, "Hey, cuz." And then also it was like, "What, dad?" Yeah, it shocked me honestly 'cause I had no idea.

You know, I instantly started thinking about my mom. I'm like, "So did you even know?" Like, you know, I had so many questions that I just didn't have the answers to.

It just blows my mind how adults hold secrets and then children have to pick up the pieces later on in life. It just blows my mind. Like, any adults out there listening, if you got a secret, just go ahead and just do the work yourself so that it doesn't have to be thrown onto your children, please.

I was molested by a family member.

Oh, poor baby.

I was molested by somebody she was dating. I didn't express it to her right away because I was always the child to keep in everything. I never spoke. About my feelings. I didn't really know how to talk. I didn't feel comfortable with talking to her because we never had like a real bond. So when I actually came to her and told her about it, she kicked me out the house and she pretty much— How old were you when you told her? I was 12 years old. And she kicked me out the house and I went to go live with my father and I felt I felt betrayed. I felt like I wasn't protected. You know, I felt like you ruined my life. Like, why did you let this happen to me?

And what was her response?

She didn't really respond. She pretty much protected the guy and continued to talk to him after.

What do you want from your mom?

I want her to take accountability for her actions. I want her to give me answers on why did this happen to me? Like, why did you treat me the way that you treated me? Like, why couldn't you just love me? Like, you know, genuinely, I felt like we had a bond at one point. She used to take me to my track meets, she was there at award shows, and then for some reason she just stopped being there for me. She just stopped paying attention to me, so I kind of did rebel a little bit as a child because I felt like that was me acting out, trying to get her attention.

Yeah.

You know, it was not that I was a bad kid, it's just I wanted you to pay attention to me.

Neshay, are you ready to talk to your mom now?

Yes.

Okay. Well, welcome everyone, Cherie, to the show. Cherie, thank you so much for being here.

Hi.

How are you feeling right now?

I'm feeling nervous and a little ashamed.

Okay, why are you feeling ashamed?

Because a lot of the things that my daughter said is true.

You know what, Sharee saying that she was ashamed, I loved it because it showed that she was about to start owning how she played a part in this. But I do understand as a young mother, the things that she had to do, she was trying to make the best choices that she could. Your daughter's here.

But baby, you know I love you, baby.

It just breaks my heart to see Neshay. You can see the raw emotion that's happening in Neshay. It just broke my heart in the moment because I just wanted to give her a hug. You know, one of the things that you remember is that for me, I can see all sides because I want every single person to feel like they're seen and heard, because that's how you get to real communication. That's how you get to real resolution. That's how you get to the breakthrough. And so I understand what the mom is experiencing, but I also understand the pain that this young woman is going through wanting to know her identity. Have you ever talked to your daughter about what she experienced?

She never really got to know me like that. She never really like tried to get involved and figure out like what was wrong. You know, she— Neshay, you said you put me in jail. You told them that. You told them that you could not take care of me. That's what you told them. But I— It's not that you couldn't take care of me, and it's not that I was rebellious, it's that I was going through all this trauma that you didn't even notice. Like, how do you not notice your daughter is— Like, somebody's touching her. How do you not notice these things? I was not there when that other situation happened with you. I was not there. Yeah, you were. Yeah, you were. You were gone too. I was not there. Yeah, but you were there for a lot of other things and you weren't emotionally there for me and you didn't even talk to me about it. You didn't even give me a hug. You know, when I came to you with the information, you made it seem like I wanted to sleep with that guy. You made it seem like, you told people in the streets that I sleep with older men. Like, I came to you with this information and you literally put it all on Facebook. I felt like I could never confide in you with nothing. You can confide in me. I love you. I will never stop loving you.

So your daughter said that when this happened, that she felt like you weren't emotionally there, that you didn't hug her, that you weren't there for her. Do you feel from your perspective that you were there for her?

You know what? No, I wasn't because I never got the affection from my mom. Right, right. I didn't get hugs.

Right.

I didn't get none of that. Right. So basically I gave what I received.

Sherrie, I need to take you back because there's something that really was critical and I think one of the most pivotal turning points in your daughter's life is when she said to you, I was molested. You've acknowledged you didn't handle that situation right. I gave you an opportunity here to re-handle it. What do you wanna say to your daughter? I know you said I put you through some stuff, But your daughter said that when she came to you and told you I was molested, that you didn't respond right. Here's your opportunity to respond to your daughter. What do you wanna say to her?

I'm sorry, I'm sorry that I didn't protect you, Neshay, that I did not protect you the way I should have protected you then. Mama is so sorry from the bottom of my heart. I did not want it to go like this. I did not wanna be here discussing this, but I am sorry that I could not protect you at that time, baby. Right, and I just, I feel it, but I don't feel it, Mom, because why did it continue to happen? How did you learn from the first time? He's in jail now, Anthony. He's in jail now. Is he in prison? Oh, I don't know where he is. I don't think so. Yeah, he's in prison where he needs to be. Yeah, not for what he did though.

I appreciate you taking that first step. And Neshay, I understand that it's gonna take you some time to trust.

Yeah.

It's gonna take you some time to trust. But you asked for some accountability. Yeah. And she's taking some accountability saying, "I should have protected you more." Yeah.

Yeah.

What else do you need from your mom?

I just need her to do better. I need her to communicate more. And I need her to change. I will communicate. I will do that. I'm willing.

Sherie, I will tell you this. As we're about to get into the, now the reason that we're here also for this DNA mystery that's happening, I need you to understand that there's a lot of work that you're gonna have to do. And I think you know that. And I think I wanna acknowledge the step that I saw you take today. I heard you take accountability. And I think that if you can continue down this path of taking this accountability, that the relationship can be mended in some way, in some form. Because obviously your daughter's open to it or she wouldn't have brought you here. I know she came here for a DNA test, but she could have easily not spoken to you. She could have easily not opened up. She could have easily not said, this is the little girl that's in your daughter saying, Mommy, I still want to know you and I still wanna hear from you. But you gotta do the work.

Yeah, I'ma always love my mom.

You hear that?

Yeah, I'ma always love you, baby. You my first child, my firstborn. I'ma always love you.

Do you feel a little better?

Yeah.

You do? Yeah. You feel seen and heard a little bit?

Yeah.

Good. I just wanna make sure. I know we were here for the DNA test, but once I heard this, I couldn't just pass it by.

Yeah. Thank you so much.

You're welcome. You're welcome. Well, this is the moment because this man could potentially be your father. So everyone, please welcome Michael to the show. Okay, I'm gonna tell y'all, I didn't see Michael before the show, and when he walked out, I said, girl, this is his twin. This is our twin. They look just alike. I mean, he's sharp. They both— I mean, they got the same style sense, same eyes, same nose, same lips. What was going through your head when you heard that?

A lot of her— it was a guy for me immediately I had known, so I could have maybe been there to do something and make it— make her life a little different.

Got it. And I heard you've been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Yeah, for a while.

Ironically, I started out looking for my father.

One last moment, you have a beard that's just fully grown out. I don't know my father.

I can't wait.

That kind of transitioned into finding a sister on my father's side. After finding that sister on my father's side, ironically, it led me to finding her.

Oh, wow.

Yeah, it led me to finding her.

Wow, that's amazing that you were looking for someone else and then this connection happened. Yeah.

Yeah.

Wow. Cherie.

We was doing the same thing. Like, I'm trying to figure out who my mom's dad is. Yeah.

Interesting. What's going on over there, Cherie? What are you feeling?

It's like I see her face and his face together.

Even mom was gagged. The fact that she saw these two, she was like, hold on, maybe this is her father. No, I don't think so.

Yeah.

Let me see. I know, right?

It's a smile on them eyes, yeah. What's going through your head?

I just wanna know.

Yeah.

Well, we gonna get there in a little bit. So you first connected with Ashae, did you even think that she could be your daughter? What was the first thought? 'Cause she thought you were her cousin.

Yeah.

So that was the first thought. So I got like an influx of emails saying, "Hey, it's your third cousin. Now you have a second cousin and a fourth cousin." So when I got that influx, I decided to go on. And in doing that, I went through a lot of the various emails that I had and I saw Neshay's email that said, "Hey cousin." And I think it said, "How are you?" Or, "How are we related?" Something like that. And then I saw one about 6 months later that said, "Hello." And I didn't respond to either one of 'em. I think because it said cousin, there wasn't that great interest to really move on it. You know, 'cause you got the third cousins, fourth cousins. And so because she said cousin, it kind of threw me a little bit.

Listen, we've all got a message from somebody talking about, "Hey, cuz." And you're like, "I don't know you. I don't know you." So I understand why he wouldn't respond, but when you dig a little deeper, sometimes digging will bring you to more truth.

You either have a mother or a daughter, and I know she ain't your mother.

Right? Yeah, yeah.

And I was like, "Yeah, nah." So she handed me the phone, I said, I was like, wow, you know, use a different word. But then I saw the percentile and I also have a son that's on there as well.

This daughter that he can connect with, I mean, sometimes the universe just makes everything work as it needs to work. This young woman who's disabled will have another sister. He will have a connection with both of his daughters. It's a beautiful moment. On here, this will let you know if this is your father and will give you, Either clarity if like there's new family out there, a new relationship you could be establishing. Are you ready for this? Okay, this was an intense moment because she has been waiting her entire life. You could feel all of her anxiety and all of her stress. Like sitting next to her, I just wanted to grab her and be like, oh, my poor baby. What happened? This is your father? Yes!

Look at the mom's response!

Do you see how that woman is reacting? She is—

shocked, period.

She's like, what in the world? It had me tearing up. I don't tear up for nothing, okay? The whole audience was crying. We were all in there crying because it just— it was such a special moment because you wanted Nishae to have that closure. You wanted her to have the answers. But the mother, she is gagged. She does not know what is going on because she did not assume this was going to So, Cherie, I'm gonna start with you first of all, because I know Michael's happy about this. What is in your mind, Cherie, right now?

Oh my God. I cannot believe it.

I'm— You're in shock.

Oh my God. It's like a dream right now.

That's his twin right there. That is his twin. But again, I just love that we were able to have a moment where this family was able to connect it was able to be positive and they're able to move on and be a happy family together. And I just wish them all the best of luck.

Yeah.

And create some new ones.

Yeah.

Okay.

That'll be good.

All right.

That's beautiful. Oh, that almost made me cry.

My baby right here.

I know. Oh my God. 29 years later. Woo.

Thank you for saying that without being prompted to say that because as you heard behind, there is a lot of healing and that's why I stopped from doing this the other day. DNA. And I think you're actually coming into her life at a critical point where a strong male figure can really help this. Do you feel that way?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah. I think, you know, sometimes we don't realize how the universe is aligned.

Right.

And sometimes, and I say that from just, you know, y'all know I had my own DNA surprise. My son was 10, popped up on my doorstep and I was like, what? Yeah. So.

Yes.

But it was the greatest gift.

Thank you so much.

And it healed so much trauma in my family. And I feel like, this could be the beginning. Today is the beginning of a lot of healing for all of y'all.

New relationships, new bonds.

Exactly.

And better memories.

Yes, better memories. And I will also tell you this, Neshay, is that you're gonna have to grieve sort of the life that you thought with their other father.

Yeah.

You're gonna have to go through a grieving process. It's gonna seem weird.

I agree.

But I want you to be patient with yourself and love yourself through that, okay?

Yeah.

Because you did nothing wrong. No. You understand?

Yeah, I always love him and he's always gonna be my dad.

Oh, most definitely.

He raised me.

Most definitely.

You hear him, he's saying he's important.

You can't change that part. That's history, that's what you build.

Yeah.

I'm biological, your father is the person that's been there for you and that's been there and loving you your whole life.

Yeah.

I'm just gonna be that going forward.

Right.

You gotta look at that.

That's gonna be a lot of love you gonna be getting.

Yeah.

You all right?

Yeah.

I'm telling you, you found your twin. You found your twin. You have found your twin.

I'm elated.

Elated? Yeah. Oh yeah.

Most definitely.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you guys.

Karamo, thank you so much.

Yeah, you're welcome. You're very welcome. Cherie, how are you feeling?

I am just, my mouth hanging open. I'm just, it feel like a dream right now.

Yeah.

I swear. Oh, mother.

Michael, I swear. Yeah.

Well, listen, I'm just very happy about what happened today. For you two as mother and daughter, that you took a step, Sherrie, of like being able to be accountable, just showing up, being more vulnerable. I really believe that this could be the first step of y'all really getting a relationship back. Because what's happened today is that now your daughter knows more about you, Y'all have been able to communicate a little bit more. Now there's clarity on who her father is. This is truly a step that if you take a step backwards, it's someone just hurt it. Y'all just keep moving forward from here. Just keep moving forward. Can you do that for your daughter?

Yes, I can. Yes, I can.

I believe you will. And good luck to you.

Thank you so much.

Listen, you got a daddy here. You got another daddy. You got another father. All right? It's gonna be a good time. I'm so happy for you.

You're welcome.

I appreciate y'all too. I appreciate you too. Yeah, you're welcome.

I'm so happy for you. Oh my gosh.

I'm happy for you too. Good job. You're a good man. Good man. Look at this beautiful family chilling together. All right. Hold up, hold up. Where are you going? I know you wanna watch more Karamo, so click here to subscribe and click here to watch more so we can keep talking and growing, friends. I love you.