My Mom Abandoned Me To Be Famous! | KARAMO

Well, I'm here to find out if Sharonda's my mother and to also find out if Victor's my father.

Okay.

Because I was adopted at 11 months.

Okay, at 11 months. Wow. So how was your childhood?

Well, my childhood kind of changed for me at like 6 because my mom, my adopted mom, ended up getting married and we ended up moving to Washington State.

Got it.

So my life changed to where everything became strict. There was no secular music. I ended up going to private school for like my whole elementary life and yeah.

So other than the strictness, it sounds like it was a good life?

I did go through some things, but overall it was a good life.

Do you remember your biological family at all?

No.

At all? I don't remember anything. All I've been told is what I've been told since the age of 19.

Got it. And what were you told at the age of 19?

I was told, oh, I was contacted by my mother's sibling, her sister. And she had messaged me on Facebook and was like, we've been looking for you, you've been missing.

Wow.

And we'd like to fly you out. And so I ended up flying out the next week.

How did you know these people were who they said they were?

I don't.

You didn't?

I still don't.

You still don't? Yeah, I don't. So you just took the risk and said, let me take the flight out?

Yeah.

Yeah. So what did they tell you about your past?

What did, well, I learned from my past by my nana. Nobody else has told me really anything.

Okay.

But what my nana told me was when my mom had me, I was only like 3 weeks. She left me at a neighbor's house. And, but the neighbor knew about it, but her daughter was the one that was watching me. A minor was watching me.

Wow.

And I ended up getting left there for over a week. And so my nana got called from the parent of the neighbor and she was like, "You gotta come get the baby 'cause she don't got no food, no clothes." So my nana ended up coming to get me and I was only like 3 weeks. But at that time my nana already had 3 of my mother's other children.

Got it.

And my nana had also had her second child, which was 13 years younger than my mother.

Got it.

So yeah.

What did they tell you about your mother?

That she would be out all the time and that she was, she wanted to be famous basically. She always would run away from home since the age of 13 to go be in the studio and things like that.

[Speaker:KARAMO] Got it. And what about your father or potential father?

[Speaker] Well, I heard that when I was 3 months after my nana, she got custody of me, she had to go to work. So to send us all to our fathers, our potential fathers, supposed fathers. So Victor was my supposed father. She sent me to him. He kept me for about 3 months. But he ended up calling my nana, his mom ended up calling my nana and telling her to come get me because he wasn't my father.

Got it.

Yeah.

So your mother gave birth to 8 children?

Yes.

And did she raise any of them?

She's raised them for maybe a little bit, but my nana still has custody of her youngest 3 now.

Oh, youngest 3 now.

Yeah.

Wow. Okay then. And do you know why she hasn't gotten them back now? Because you said earlier when she was younger, she was chasing stardom. She was trying to be in the studio, but now she's older, I'm assuming.

And so she's still doing the same thing.

She's still doing the same thing from what you've been told?

From what I've been told and from what I've known. Like when I met her at the age of 18, I went to the clubs with her and performed with her.

Oh wow.

Yeah.

'Cause how old are you now?

I'm 24 now.

24 now. Mm-hmm. So this has been about 5 years that you've known this woman?

Yeah.

From 18 to now.

From 18 to now.

Wow. And you perform with her? So potential mother and potential father reconnected 2 years ago. So they are in a relationship now? Got it.

I don't know.

Got it. Do you have a relationship with them?

I have a relationship with my supposed mother, but—

And when you say kinda, like do y'all talk on the phone every day?

No.

Not? Like once a week, once a month?

Maybe once a month.

Do you talk to your potential siblings?

Yeah.

You do talk to them?

I do.

Okay then.

Because we all have the same understanding as We know who she is and we know who we are. Like we have our own connection as siblings.

So yeah. When was the last time you saw your potential mother?

Last year.

Last year. Okay then. All right everyone, well help me welcome Ayala's potential mother, Sharonda, to the show. Everyone welcome Sharonda. Hey, Sharonda, how are you doing?

I'm fine, I never meant to abandon you like that. It wasn't me that abandoned you, okay? My mom, my mom had you and I didn't know that she had put you up for adoption. I didn't know that none of this stuff had happened 'cause as you know, yes, I was in the streets and I was trying to do my music thing and Victor actually got you when you were 3 months old like you said, but he had you for a year and I thought that everything was fine and that you were gonna be okay with him. He took you back to my mom and told her that you weren't his daughter. And I didn't know nothing about you going into adoption until you were actually gone. I love you though. And I know for a fact that you are my daughter and I was looking for you throughout the years. But we knew that we could not contact you until you were a certain age, okay?

If you didn't know that this happened, once you became 18, why didn't you try to have a closer connection? She said that y'all, Talk maybe once a month, if.

Well, when my sister and my daughter located her, she actually called me on the phone and was like, are you my mom? And I'm like, well, who is this? And she goes, Aaliyah. Well, my daughter's name is Ayala. And she said, well, my foster parents, they changed my name. And I thought my sister and my daughter were playing a prank on me, 'cause that's what we used to do. We used to play pranks. And I was like, this is a really messed up prank if you guys are playing with me. They sent pictures and I'm like, yeah, she kinda look like me, but I don't know.

Okay, so do you believe she's your daughter? I do. You do?

I do. She looks just like me.

Okay, and let's go back. So at that time in your life, I heard you say that you were pursuing your music, you were in the streets. Why didn't you raise her or any of your other kids?

Well, I started running away when I was like 13 years old. And I started having babies and they just kept coming out. Well, my second pregnancy was twins.

How old were you when you had your first child?

16. I was 16 when I had my first daughter.

And then when you had twins, how old were you?

19. All my kids are 3 years apart.

Was there addiction or something of why you weren't able to or just?

I was in the streets with the music thing. I wanted to be a star.

Okay. I hear you. Well, I'm getting a ping right now, and Sharonda, apparently your mother had something to say. Let's take a listen.

A'Yaela was her mother's fourth child, and at the time of her birth, of A'Yaela's birth, her mother didn't have custody of any of her children. I had her children, and I raised all of them with the exception of A'Yaela. So I decided that, you know, the children should spend some time with their biological mother. Father if they wasn't going to be with their mother. She went to live with Victor. Victor called and said he, he was not the father. He kept blaming his best friend to be the baby's father. The baby didn't resemble his best friend. I picked her up, she was picked up, and never to see him again, period.

Wow. Okay. Do you have a good relationship with your mother?

I do now.

Yeah, you do now. Okay, you didn't before?

No, not really.

Okay, so why did you let your mom put her up for adoption?

I didn't know that she was actually in the foster care system at that time.

Got it.

Until she was actually gone.

And did you ever—

Where were you though, to not know? I was in the streets, I was out.

I was traveling.

Did you ever try to contact her?

I don't think my daughter checked on us too.

I did, that's why you were there at the time that you were there at my grandmother's house because it was time for me to visit with my children. In town to visit, to spend time with my children. But I never knew that you were in actual foster care. I didn't know this until you were gone.

So Victor, you and him dated back in the day?

Yes.

And is he your boyfriend now?

Yes.

Okay. From your opinion, is Victor her father?

I believe so, yes.

Yes, okay. Are there any other potential fathers?

Yes, his best friend. But when me and Victor, when Ayala was conceived, me and Victor, we were not a couple.

So what is your relationship with her potential father like now?

We're good.

Even if it comes back?

If it comes back that Victor is her father, I don't see a future with me and Victor because that just—

If it comes back that he's not the father?

That he is.

Oh, if he is the father?

Just because, you know, the reason that he abandoned her.

Got it. So if he is the father, you don't wanna pursue a relationship because of the fact that at 3 weeks he gave her up?

Because another woman gave him an ultimatum.

Got it, got it. But is that a little double standards? 'Cause you weren't there either.

I wasn't there either, true.

Mm-hmm.

That is true, but I didn't abandon my child because someone told me to.

But you abandoned your child 'cause you told yourself to.

I didn't abandon her. I didn't know that she was gone. You know?

How long have you and Victor been back together?

2 years.

2 years now. Okay then. Did you propose to him?

Yes, I did.

You did, okay.

Yes, I did.

Did he say yes?

No, he told me no. He told me that he was not gonna marry me. He didn't wanna marry me.

Why?

He didn't say why.

Okay, well I wanna see what Sharonda's boyfriend and your potential father, Victor, has to say about all this. So everyone please welcome Victor to the show. Hey, how are you doing today, sir?

Oh, I'm doing fine and yourself?

I'm good, thank you. I like them shoes.

Thank you, thank you.

Yeah, you're welcome. So do you think you are Ayala's father?

Well, it's hard for me to say, you know? I'm here to find out for the most part. I had her when she was a little kid. Sharonda kept telling me that she was my daughter, right? And I went and got her, I got her caught up on all her shots, everything that a parent's supposed to do. And it's like, I took care of her for a period of time. At the time I was going to school, raising, I had my son from Mississippi that was at my mother's house. I also was in a relationship with a female that she still accepted Ayala 'cause, you know, Ayala was there with us, you know, and she watched her and took care of her, you know, and it's like, you know, everybody accepted her when she was with me, but then, you know, my life compelled me to just, you know, like, take her to her granny's because, you know, it was just something about it, you know, it was just a feeling, you know.

[Speaker:KARAMO] How does it make you feel that he doesn't think that he's your father?

I don't feel it either.

You don't feel it either? Well listen, I think it's time to unlock the DNA truth. First, we gave Sharonda a DNA test to find out if you are in fact her biological mother. So this is your truth to open, not mine. So here you go. Yes, this is your truth to open.

Oh.

Wait, this was for Sharonda?

Yes, it's for Sharonda. What's it say?

It's like, you are it.

So it says Sharani is your biological mother?

Yeah, I knew that.

Okay.

I was like, I was like.

Okay.

If you take them both teeth out, they gonna look like twins. Yeah, so.

So that wasn't no denying that.

So how does it feel to know this is actually your biological mother?

I knew it from the pictures.

You knew it from the pictures, you felt it.

Mm-hmm.

Okay then, how do you feel?

I feel great, 'cause I knew she was my daughter. She looks just like me. Got it. She acts like me, she walks like me, she talks like me.

Yeah, okay, got it, got it, got it, got it, okay. Well, let's get to the DNA truth to see if Victor is your father. This is your truth to open up mine, so here you go.

But yeah.

You nervous?

Yeah.

Yeah, what are you feeling right now?

'Cause this one, this is like the missing piece to the puzzle, kind of.

Yeah.

If it is true, you know?

Yeah, uh-huh.

But then it's like also I got something, I learned from my life experience in all of it because I know I will never do my kids the way I was done by my family.

So, thank you. What did you say?

Oh wow.

What does it say?

It says, "Victor, you are not the father." You're not the father.

What?

Okay, so you said you had a feeling and you felt like it wasn't. Okay.

Wow.

What?

So Sharonda, what's going through your mind right now?

Wow.

Yeah. So you said at that time that it was also you were in a sexual relationship with his best friend?

Yeah.

Do you still have contact with that person?

Yes.

But it wasn't, that was just a one-time thing though with him.

Got it.

It was.

Victor, what are your thoughts on all this?

What is my thoughts? I don't have no thoughts.

No thoughts?

No.

Okay. And for you?

For me, there's still a missing piece to the puzzle.

Yeah, yeah.

And there's no hard feelings to him because at the end of the day, he did what he was supposed to do.

Yeah.

And more.

He did.

So does this change your relationship with Victor now?

No.

At all?

No, it doesn't.

Okay then. And so you feel the same as well? You'll still continue this relationship?

Yeah, for the most part.

My whole thing was—

When you say for the most part, yeah.

My whole thing was, you know, with Victor, when he dropped the baby off and said that it wasn't his baby, no one ever seen any paperwork. So that's why it was like, well, where's the paperwork? We have no proof of this. And I just wanted proof. I wanted to see this for myself.

Well, would you like our support in testing the best friend?

Well, he already said that he would, yeah.

Okay then, great, 'cause you need to know this.

Yeah.

Well, I'll tell you this, I'm glad, Victor, that you have your answers. Well, Sharonda, I'll tell you this, we would love to support you in figuring out if this other person is her father.

Yeah.

And I would also encourage you in the meantime while we're doing that, you know, one of the things I heard a lot is I don't think you really acknowledge what your actions were at that time. There is some excuses about like how it was Victor and how your mother did this. And I don't think that you're really looking at what the consequences—

I definitely know what I did and I apologize to you and I apologize to you too.

There you go.

Yeah. Well, I don't really need no apology.

Well, I feel like it's old.

What I appreciate the most is what you did there is you did take accountability. You gave an apology whether he wanted it or not, but also you gave an apology to her. And I think that's the most important. Because I think that is going to help y'all to heal this relationship and mend it and to get closer, okay?

Thank you.

All right.