In this episode of KARAMO, host Karamo mediates a heated family intervention involving Sabrina, her aunt Thelma, and potential brother William. The conflict stems from a 2007 accusation by Thelma that Sabrina’s father is not her biological parent, which resurfaced after years of adoption-related trauma and a contentious money dispute that led to mutual insults, including calling each other "crackhead." Sabrina, adopted and raised in foster care, has long struggled with identity and the unknown status of her biological parents. Through a caseworker program, she met William, a youth placed in a detention center, who may be her half‑brother. After 17 years, Sabrina pushes for a DNA test to confirm paternity and sibling relationships. Thelma expresses regret but also demands respect, while Karamo guides the participants toward healthier communication, encouraging them to replace retaliatory remarks with honest expression of needs. The episode ends with each party committing to improve their familial bonds once the DNA results are revealed.
Chapters
I knew Sabrina had doubts about her daddy being her biological father. We got into a big argument over money. She was being very disrespectful to me. So I say, I know how to get her. I'll say that he's not your biological father and I'm not your biological aunt. That was back in 2007. That was 17 years ago. Sabrina begged me to stay with her. To watch her children while she worked. That turned into a nightmare. We argued over money, and she got mad because I wouldn't give her any money. Then she, "Oh yeah, you a crackhead anyway." And I said this, I said, "Yeah, you a bitch anyway." She called me a crackhead in front of all my neighbors. I am not a crackhead. Yeah, I done drugs in the past, but crack was not one of 'em. Sabrina hurt me, I disrespected her right back by telling her that her father was not her biological dad.
Wow, there's a lot there. So everyone, please welcome Sabrina to the show. So you gotta tell me, how did that moment change your life when your aunt said that to you? Or your potential aunt?
It just made me real upset 'cause all my life I was already adopted and didn't know who my biological mom was until I got older. So it just really played an emotional role not knowing who my biological father is. It's just sad because me and my brothers and sisters was already in foster care, but I ended up getting adopted and being in one foster home my whole life. It just made me real upset and it already was making me real scared that You know, and nervous that I already didn't meet him 'cause he died when I was 4.
Got it.
So it's just really just, it's just a heartbreaking situation.
Of course. Did you have doubts about your paternity before?
It wasn't doubts about paternity per se, but it was more of me feeling some type of way 'cause I was adopted.
Understood.
You know, and I didn't meet my biological mom until I got older.
Did you really call her a crackhead?
Yes, I did call her a crackhead.
And why?
I'm sorry, y'all. It was, you know, I called her a crackhead because we was going through like some money exchanges about babysitting and I just felt like she was being very greedy. So I just told her like, you're selfish and you know, you are a crackhead. But it wasn't—
Why you couldn't just leave it, you felt selfish? Why you had to call her a crackhead?
I mean, I know, I know. 'Cause I was going through those, just already being adopted, already have emotional issues. So it was already like, you know, let's be fair, or what I felt that was fair, 'cause I don't know how she felt. So it was just like, you know, I was totally disrespectful 'cause I didn't ever want to disrespect my auntie. But why would you say that he's not my father?
Did y'all have a good relationship before?
We didn't have a bad one.
So, but it wasn't like a solid, it was—
It was like she was in my life periodically and she, you know, called me on my birthdays and I seen her as a kid every blue moon.
Got it. You met your brother William while you were in the system, correct?
Correct.
Tell me about that.
Pretty much we was going through like this program and he was like in a detention center. So they had put a program together to help youth and foster kids out or adopted kids. So they had took us to meet each other for the first time. And then I had met him for the first time when he was like 13 years old.
Got it. So a caseworker put y'all together and said y'all was siblings? Correct, correct.
Correct.
And how did you eventually connect with Thelma?
The lady that adopted me, she basically would let me still see my biological father's side of the family.
So though she was in and out, did she play like a mother figure? What role did she play to you?
She played a positive role. I can't say that she was a bad person throughout my whole life. But you know, after hearing somebody tell you that your father not your father, that anything else doesn't matter at that point.
Yeah.
It throws everything away.
So it's been 17 years. Why is it important now to get this DNA?
'Cause it been on my heart for years. For years I've been talking about it with my other aunt saying that I wanted to get a test done because why would you say something like that? It's billions of things you could have said. Why would you sit there and say that my father is not my father?
That makes sense, yeah. Well, it's time to meet Thelma to hear her side of the story. So everyone, welcome Thelma to the show. How you doing?
I love you.
Thank you, I love you too.
You are real.
So I gotta ask you, how you feel about what you just heard?
It would've been different if it was the truth.
Oh.
You didn't tell him why I said what I said. Tell him why I said what I said.
'Cause I said something very disrespectful to you.
Exactly. And I knew that that Oh right, that would trigger me. I knew that that would trigger her, 'cause I kept telling her to leave. She wouldn't leave. I was pushing her out for her to get out. She got outside, all the neighbors was out 'cause it's summer. She out there screaming and hollering, and then she say, 'Cause you crackhead.' And I'm not a crackhead.
Got it.
But anyway, to make a long story short, About the money thing? No, I'm not the greedy one. She's the greedy one. Sabrina has a bad habit of telling you something she don't go through. Not all the time, just sometimes.
Got it.
That was her being greedy, not me.
But Auntie, but don't you think that it could have been other things that could have been said to me about my father?
No, no, there's only two things that came to my mind to say. You know what the first one is? I wasn't gonna say that. So I said that, 'cause I knew that that would shut her up. She said a couple words, she got in her car, and she left. All I wanted her to do was leave. Because after that happened, when I seen neighbors, they come up to me asking me where to get a bump from.
No.
Yeah.
Oh, because, okay.
Yeah, because of what she said.
Got it. It makes sense to me from the beginning because you already triggered because you now, you're now clean, you're trying to do the best. So she knew what would trigger you, you knew what would trigger her. And so people coming to your neighborhood asking for drugs, is this gonna be like, wow, you put me back in a situation where people gonna see me in a bad light?
I wasn't trying to do that to you. I wasn't trying to really do that. You know, we just got into it, but that father stuff was just something that just, I mean, I don't know, I believe.
But I gotta ask you, have you ever had doubts that she was your niece before that moment?
No.
Okay.
No. Now I'm gonna tell you why. My brother, me and my brother was just like that. He came, he said, "Man." I said, "What?" He said, "I'm getting ready to have a baby." I said, "Ooh, good, I hope it's a little girl." And I said, "Okay, so we'll name her Nicole and we'll call her Nikki for short." He said, "I have a name picked out." He said, "Her name is Sabrina." He said, "And I'll make her middle name Nicole." He did the same thing with Will. That's how I know that they are his kids.
Got it. Looking back, I gotta ask you, do you regret telling Sabrina she was not your niece?
I do, but I'm saying like this, if you go low on me, I'm gonna go low on you. If you go high on me, I'm gonna go high on you.
Got it.
Fair exchange is no highway robbery.
Mm, okay.
Hello.
Now Sabrina, your potential brother William, your potential brother William has questions questions over the years about you two being siblings?
Yeah, I guess that's something that's kind of like new, but yeah, we share the same mother. But for years they said we had the same father. So now since, you know, we're doing the DNA, you know, he wanna make sure that we have the same parents.
Got it. Well, I think it's time to hear his story. So everyone please welcome William to the show.
You got an okay audience.
Oh, thank you. I appreciate that. William, thank you for being here.
How you doing?
I'm good, sir. So how do you feel about what you just heard?
I'm kind of numb.
You're numb to it?
Yeah.
I understand.
I was raised by myself. I grew up by myself, so I be numb to these type of situations. I got feelings, but I don't know how to describe my feelings.
Got it, that makes sense.
I don't like to see them go at it, but I understand where my auntie be coming from, and I understand our situation is all three of our situations. You know, I be feeling like she ain't my sister though. You know, I be feeling like she more like my homegirl, 'cause she there when I need her if anything serious is going on, but it's like, it's not like a sister-brother Bond.
So what do you want the truth to reveal today?
That we all family.
You family.
Yeah.
So I think it's time to unlock the DNA truth. Yeah. All right. Sabrina, this first one is for you. This is your truth to open up, ma'am. What are you thinking about?
Just, just want to know that William Jones is my biological brother.
Oh, there you go. How you feel about that?
I feel good.
I mean, we We know that 'cause we have the same mom, but it's just a question of if we got the same dad or not.
Well, Sabrina, here is the second truth that you've been looking for to see if this is indeed your aunt, to confirm if that was indeed your father. Here you go. And this truth is for both of you.
Tell me it's your biological father. I'd say it wasn't—
there was no doubt in my mind. I hope and pray you don't never disrespect me again. I hope that we can be like family. I love you, Nick. I love you.
I got to tell you something, though.
Thank you so much.
You have to listen for me, yes. You take a seat for me. The thing that I wanna leave y'all with is now that you have these answers is that I do see the pain. I understand why these tears are here. You wanna be a family again, but I also heard you say something. You said, "I hope you never disrespect me again." That I'm her aunt.
She's not mine. I'm older than her. I think I was 31 when she was born. I demand respect.
I get that. What I wanna share with you is I do believe you deserve respect. I believe all of you deserve respect. Disrespect. But I also believe that sometimes when there, what I know to be true is that when there are issues that have been compounded over years and years, distrust, pain, things that have been said, it's hard to sometimes not say something that is not going to hurt the other person because what you're doing is trying to get all your feelings out. So what I wanna encourage you to do is the next time you feel like she disrespects you, instead of saying, you disrespect me, I'm gonna hit you back, I'm gonna go low, you disrespect me, I'm gonna say something that's gonna trigger you. I want you to say, "I need you to communicate better with me right now." Okay. Because what that is, it's gonna be a signal for you to say in this moment, your pain is coming up and you need to figure out a new way to express that pain. This is a very small step. It's time to start speaking from your heart and not from anger. So the next time you feel that she's saying something, what are you gonna say? Where you feel like she's disrespecting you, she's coming out wrong. What you gonna say?
Okay, I know what I will say 'cause I don't like saying what other people gonna say.
Okay, what you gonna say?
'Cause I call her Nikki. I said, "Nikki, Nikki, we're not doing this. We're not going there. Remember what Karamo said." Okay, great.
There you go. And if that could be for you, do you want your family to be better?
Of course, of course. We already been distant forever. Like, yeah, I would like a better relationship with my auntie.
So each of you have to do this first step.
Okay.
I thank y'all for being here. I really thank y'all for being with us. For being with me and for coming and sharing your story.
