Gave birth to her 1st child at age 30, a son Sankara Alafia in September 2013. Child's father is her estranged husband, Joshua Bee Alafia.
Her ancestry includes African-American, Brazilian, West African, Cherokee Native American, and Irish. Yaya often mentioned her Brazilian ancestry during her "America's Next Top Model" (2003) run, along with her Nigerian ancestry.
Majored in International Relations and African Studies at Brown
University
Accepted the role of Cassandra on "All My Children". (April 2008)