A Daughter's Tearful Questions to the Mom Who Gave Her Away

When 29-year-old Preccious was 7 months old, her mother, Alicia, gave her away to relatives in Louisiana. For nearly three decades, Preccious has experienced a deep sense of abandonment stemming from her adoption and has struggled to raise her own seven children in the midst of this pain. In an effort to help this family begin to break the cycle of dysfunction, Iyanla encourages Preccious to tell her mother the things she's never said aloud before.

Sobbing in Alicia's arms, Preccious speaks. "I just always wanted that love from you that I never got," she says. "I seen the adoption papers a month prior to coming here, and reading them and understanding them, that you was going to have an abortion until they stopped you and told you just go ahead and have me. You had up until one year to come back and get me, and that question ran through my head on why you never came back for me."

Iyanla offers one possibility. "Sometimes, the best way to take care of something is to let it go," she says gently. "I know that doesn't help you when you're 3 to 5 and 7 and you just want your mommy, but I just want you to sit with that for a minute."

Iyanla's work with this family continues in Part 2, airing Saturday, May 13, at 9 p.m. ET.

Want to know what else is coming up on OWN? Sign up for the This Week on OWN Newsletter.