Yolanda Foster is defending her children Bella Hadid and Anwar Hadid, after questions about their Lyme disease diagnosis were on a topic of discussion on Bravo's "The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills."
On Tuesday's episode of the Bravo show, Kyle Richards hosted a barbecue at her home. At the party, co-star Lisa Vanderpump claimed Foster's ex-husband, Mohamed Hadid, told her that he didn't believe "any of his children" were actually diagnosed with the debilitating disease.
"[Mohamed] just said no, that she's the only one that has it. He said he doesn't think that they had it," Vanderpump was heard telling her co-stars.
Vanderpump also claimed that Mohammed Hadid said his children were doing "fine" when he was asked about their health. Amid doubts over their family's health, Foster and Mohammed Hadid took to social media to defend their children.
Mohamed Hadid, a 67-year-old real estate developer, issued a statement to "Watch What Happens Live," which was read aloud by host Andy Cohen. He also post his statement on his personal Instagram account and captioned it, "Not everyone's reality is the true reality!"
"I do not wish to make public my family's private matters, but I would like to make it clear that I completely and unequivocally support my children and their mother. I can only imagine that my response to a question asking how my kids are doing with 'fine' was misconstrue," he wrote.
"I have too much respect for all five of my children to speak about them publicly in a restaurant or otherwise. I will not speak further on something that should now be put to rest."
Not everyone's reality is the true reality! @bravotv @bravoandy @bravowwhl
A photo posted by Mohamedhadid (@mohamedhadid) on Jan 26, 2016 at 6:55pm PST
Foster was diagnosed with Lyme disease in 2012 and recently revealed last October that both Bella and Anwar were also diagnosed with the disease in the same year. The reality posted an image on her Instagram page of her daughter Bella Hadid being treated for Lyme disease. The picture, which was taken last year, shows the 19-year-old model laying in bed next to her mother while receiving fluids through an IV.
"Watching my brave babies suffer in silence in order to support me in my journey has struck the deepest core of hopelessness inside of me, it is because of them that I continue to fight relentlessly," Foster wrote on Instagram. "I will not allow them to live a life of pain and suffering."
"I will prevail and walk to the end of the earth to find a cure for them and millions of others debilitated by this invisible disease!!!! We all deserve to live a healthy life, don't you think?" she continued, adding the hashtags, #WeMustFindACureAffordableForAll" and "#RealLifeProblems."
In a blog post published after "RHOB" aired, Foster called the episode "disheartening" and said she could hear her "children's health being talked about in such a way." Foster also revealed that Bella Hadid health forced her to give up her "lifelong dream" of competing in equestrian events at the 2016 Olympics.
"Bella had to give up her lifelong dream of having a professional riding career and a shot at the Olympics due to her severe symptoms and inability to ride," Foster wrote. "This was the biggest heartbreak of her life and an extremely sensitive subject for her. She is resilient and focused on a new direction - she's made a name for herself in the modeling industry while she struggles with symptoms of chronic Lyme every day."
As for her son, Foster wrote, "Anwar still does regular Ozone/UVI treatments and has had great success with LDI. I am glad to say that he is doing much better and finished a football season with great scores and healthy energy."
