Yolanda Foster responds to doubts about daughter's Lyme disease

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif., Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Yolanda Foster says doubts about daughter Bella Hadid's chronic Lyme disease are disheartening.

The 52-year-old reality star responded to speculation about the 19-year-old model's condition after her Real Housewives of Beverly Hills co-star Lisa Vanderpump claimed Foster's ex-husband, Mohamed Hadid, denied "any of his children" have the illness on Tuesday's episode.

"I can't accept something so delicate as my children's health being talked about in such a way," Foster wrote in a blog post on the Bravo website. "It's one thing when your integrity is doubted, spoken of behind your back, but it strikes another cord when it's your children."

Foster, who also is diagnosed with Lyme disease, revealed Hadid and son Anwar Hadid struggle with the condition in October. Mohamed Hadid responded to Vanderpump's allegation by voicing his support for Foster on Instagram.

"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," he wrote. "I can only imagine that my response to a question at dinner asking how my kids were doing with 'fine' was misconstrued."

Foster denied she is faking her own illness in December after Real Housewives co-stars questioned her diagnosis. The reality star supplemented her post about Hadid by sharing a photo of the teenager receiving treatment for her condition.

"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," she wrote. "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!"

Yolanda Foster (R) shared a photo of daughter Bella Hadid undergoing Lyme disease treatment Tuesday. Photo by Yolanda Foster/Instagram

Foster is in the midst of a divorce from second husband David Foster, who defended the star amid doubts about her illness. The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Bravo, and also features Kathryn Edwards and Faye Resnick, who clashed on the latest episode.