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Iyanla Opens Up About the Secret Death of Her Birth Mother

Season 5 Episode 501
Aired on 03/03/2018 | CC
While working with Kamiyah Mobley, who was kidnapped at birth and raised by a woman she believed to be her mother for 18 years, Iyanla opens up about how she, too, can relate to growing up amid "secrets and lies."

"At 30, with three children, I found out that the woman I thought was my mother was not my mother. My mother—my birth mother—had died when I was 2," Iyanla says. "And nobody saw fit to tell me."

Knowing firsthand how difficult it can be to process such a shock to one's identity, Iyanla offers encouragement to her guest by pointing out that at least she has the advantage of youth. "You're 19," Iyanla tells Kamiyah. "I'm so excited that you get to do it much earlier than I did."

Tune in Saturday, March 3, at 9/8c.

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