Kerry Washington makes a new revelation about her parents. In her new memoir, “Thicker Than Water” the actress reports that she recently learned that her father, Earl Washington, is not her biological father.

“It really turned my world upside down”, says Washington in the new issue of the American magazine People. The actress explains that she discovered the family secret shortly after she told her parents she was planning to appear on “Finding Your Roots” by Henry Louis Gates Jra PBS series where celebrities learn about their ancestry through DNA testing.

Having kept the secret for decades, Washington’s mom Valerie and dad Earl spoke to the show’s host, who advised them to talk to their daughter before the episode was filmed. What followed, Washington says, was a text message from her parents inviting her to speak with them in person in the spring of 2018.

“When I got this information I said “Oh. Now I know my story”says the star, who recalls feeling a sense of relief at the news, as she felt her parents had secrets and that something was missing.

Washington says she kept her cool and asked a lot of questions, while trying to support her parents at a clearly difficult time for them. She learned they chose to use an anonymous sperm donor to help conceive after fertility problems.

The actress believes it was this secret that subconsciously created anxiety, self-esteem issues and was the reason for the eating disorder she suffered from in her youth.

Armed with the new information, Washington says it made her want to tell the world her true story. “It’s really good that I’m working to make sense of my life so far, given this new information that, in many ways, feels like the missing piece of the puzzle.“, says.

“My parents weren’t thrilled about me writing this,” she notes, though they were supportive throughout the process of writing her memoir. But, he says “this is really a book for me. Now I can be the most important person in my life».

The revelation of the truth took Washington’s relationship with her parents to another level.

“I really started to have a lot more love, compassion and understanding for my parents,” she says. “The deep dive into our family history made me put myself in their shoes and think about the things they had to deal with and what they went through and what they sacrificed. And it really made me feel closer to them».

The news of her paternity is just one of many revelations in Washington’s memoir, which hits shelves on Tuesday, September 26. According to the press release, Washington’s memoir will give readers “an intimate view of both her public and private worlds. An artist, a lawyer, a businesswoman, a mother, a daughter, a wife, a black woman,” the statement reads.