“Love and Hip Hop: New York” viewers have mixed emotions about Yandy Smith‘s meeting with her foster daughter’s biological mother.
Smith is currently in the legal process of fostering one of her young mentees, Infinity Gilyard, that she met three years ago. Smith took the teen under her wing after the young girl revealed that she was having problems with her foster family.
In episode 7, Smith said Gilyard threatened to run away from her foster parents, therefore she decided to let Gilyard stay at her home. However, the mother of two ran into some legal problems after housing the teen without her foster parents’ or social worker’s permission.
Smith was eventually approved by a New York judge to start the process of fostering Gilyard, but she felt it was necessary to meet with Gilyard’s birth mother after her mother-in-law Judy Harris raised some concerns. However, when Smith sat down with teen’s mother, the unidentified woman told her a completely different story than the foster daughter’s.
Infinity Gilyard and Yandy Smith (left) and (right) Infinity’s birth mother. (photos: @yandysmith/VH1 screenshot)
The mother of six told Smith that Gilyard had been in the foster care system since November 2017, which contradicted the teen’s story. The birth mother also claimed that Gilyard had a few behavioral issues, such as sneaking out at “2 a.m. or 3 a.m” and being defiant.
Smith confronted Gilyard about seemingly lying about being in and out of the foster care system from birth. The teen denied her birth mother’s claims, but she did admit to Smith that she ran away from her mother’s home after seeing her “drunk” and lying atop a man. Gilyard claimed her mother wasn’t telling Smith the full story behind her defiant behavior and doesn’t wanted to be painted as a bad mother.
“LHHNY” viewers were torn between Gilyard’s and her biological mother’s conflicting stories.
“Infinity got a attitude👊🏽 I’m telling you something ain’t right about her,” one fan tweeted.
Another added, “What kind of her mother just willingly lets somebody adopt their kid without fighting.”
“This lil girl infinity is lying bout something Yandy I don’t trust her all the way,” a third person tweeted.
“Please whatever you do hold on to that little girl!” one viewer exclaimed. “Trust me I’ve been in her shoes….please hold on to her! 😩.”
Smith has mentored the tenth-grader for three years now since meeting her with the non-profit organization EGL Partners Uplifting our Daughters. Smith told VH1 during an interview published on Jan. 3 that Gilyard just needed some guidance and reassurance.
“If you know anything about me,” Smith says, “when it comes to children and babies it’s like, my heart.”
Yandy gets some clarity on Infinity's case by consulting with her birth mother. #LHHNY pic.twitter.com/JTYFGgSUrQ
— Love & Hip Hop (@loveandhiphop) January 22, 2019
