Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra Reflect on Adoption Nine Years Later

Despite the theories spun by Teen Mom fans, Tyler Batlierra is not leaving Catelynn Lowell. They have another baby on the way!

They gave up their first child for adoption.

In this new Teen Mom OG sneak peek, Tyler and Catelynn grapple with the bittersweet occassion that is their firstborn"s birthday.

"It"s been almost a year since we"ve seen our daughter, Carly," Catelynn says in a voiceover.

"But today is her birthday," Catelynn narrates. "It"s usually a hard day for us, so we always try to celebrate it in a positive way."

There are a couple of awkward moments as they eat their salads before they speak on the phone to Dawn, their adoption counselor.

They talk about Nova and her ability to understand that it"s Carly"s birthday.

Nova, of course, is only three years old, so immediately asked when the party would be, and if they would have cake and ice cream.

Dawn suggests that they send a Nova video to Carly, and Tyler says that it"s already in the works.

The conversation, which had so far been lighthearted, turns more serious.

Dawn praises Catelynn and Tyler, telling them how proud she is of how they"re taking this milestone in stride.

Adoption can be a difficult process for everyone involved, even though no one questions that they made the right decision.

And the two of them have really made great progress in handling the situation with a healthy perspective.

As Tyler admits when Dawn comes over to speak to them in person, he and Catelynn weren"t always so chill about it.

"I think some of our old expectations were unrealistic," Tyler admits.

"Like, [we] signed our rights off," he says, referring to signing away their parental rights nine years ago.

"A couple of years ago," Tyler confesses. "I was on the other side."

By which he means that he felt entitled to parental rights that he does not possess.

Tyler gives an example: "I was like, ‘You wouldn’t be parents if it weren’t for me.’"

"It’s acceptance of what role I really play in this child’s life and this family’s life," Tyler says of his current perspective.

Dawn, their adoption counselor, knows that Carly"s birthday is a big deal.

She walks them through how they might speak to Carly"s parents.

"If I can advise you in any way," Dawn says. "I would say a soft landing would be a good thing."

Dawn suggests: "Maybe starting a conversation with, ‘What’s Carly doing today? How are things going with her at school?’"

"You love to brag about Nova," Dawn notes. "She’s gonna love to brag about Carly."

Dawn concludes: “I think that’s gonna be an easier entry into a conversation."

Tyler and Catelynn then speak about the various traumas that they have experienced.

While most of Catelynn"s PTSD arises from her childhood, as is most often the case, it"s not the only source.

The adoption that she and Tyler went through as teens was another trauma in her life.

That is very understandable. Being conscious of that can be tremendously helpful.

Catelynn"s miscarriage, she says, was a trigger for a lot of that trauma to resurface in her mind.

Catelynn and Tyler have demonstrated more personal and emotional growth than a lot of their co-stars.

We"re not going to pretend that either of them are perfect.

If they didn"t have flaws, they wouldn"t work as reality stars.

But they"ve really worked hard on themselves and on their relationship.

That deserves some recognition.

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Maci Bookout: Adoption Plans Revealed!

Maci Bookout has had quite a tumultuous year.

Much of the drama in her life has had to do with the continued legal troubles of Ryan Edwards, the father of her first child, who"s currently facing up to a year behind bars.

While much of the focus on Maci over the past year has had to do with Ryan"s downward spiral, the mother of three has a whole lot on her mind these days aside from her ex"s substance abuse issues.

Maci and husband Taylor McKinney have been open about their desire to expand their family, but even fans who hang on Maci"s every word might be surprised by exactly what the couple has in mind for their future …

1. A Turbulent Year

Saying it’s a been a dramatic year for Maci would be putting it very mildly. The TMOG fan favorite has had to cope with challenges she probably never imagined for herself.

2. The Ryan Factor

Many of Maci’s most recent headaches have been a result of her ex-boyfriend Ryan Edwards and his ongoing substance abuse and legal issues.

3. A Necessary Move

Maci recently filed for a restraining order against Edwards after he allegedly threatened McKinney’s life. Now, Ryan is no longer permitted to have any contact with his son, Bentley.

4. Life Goes On

But Maci’s not letting the Ryan issue prevent her from living her life. In fact, she just opened up about some surprising new plans for the future.

5. Spilling the Tea

Appearing on Kailyn Lowry’s podcast this week, Maci revealed that she’s still planning to adopt a fourth child.

6. A Bit of a Twist

The adoption news will come as no surprise to Maci fans, but even the most stalwart Bookout devotees might be surprised by the details of her plan …

View Slideshow
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Catelynn Lowell: Open Adoption is a Terrible Weight on My Heart

Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra gave up their firstborn for adoption.

But it’s an open adoption, so they still have a small amount of contact with Carly — who is nine years old.

Catelynn is opening up to fans about how challenging it can be to maintain this very limited relationship with the child you brought into the world. See her heartfelt note below:

Catelynn shared a quote to Instagram.

“Open adoption is like a marriage,” the post’s image begins, written tidily in chalk.

If you’re wondering how this simile works, don’t worry, the quote explains it.

The chalk writing says: “It requires hard work, acceptance, patience, forgiveness, respect, trust, understanding, and quality time.”

In contrast, a closed adoption won’t feature any quality time.

“You stay in it not only for the child,” the quote concludes. “But because you genuinely love each other.”

The quote is attributed to Jenna Cooper.

Catelynn shared this image, and included a caption with some thoughts of her own.

“Some days adoption is really hard…” Catelynn begins, making liberal use of elipses.

Catelynn gave up her firstborn daughter, Carly, for adoption. Carly is now nine years old.

“I know,” Catelynn continues. “She will understand one day…”

But it can be difficult.

“I don’t regret it at all..” Catelynn makes clear.

Good. She was a teenager and not prepared for motherhood.

Catelynn admits: “Just some days are harder than others”

Catelynn has been brutally honest about her personal struggles before. It makes sense that she’s open and honest about this.

Last month, Catelynn honored Carly on her birthday.

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY CARLY,” Catelynn began in all caps.

Birthdays are a big deal, even in complicated families. Especially in complicated families.

“Today,” Catelynn continued. “You are 9 years old! NINE!!!”

Anyone who remembers when Catelynn was a pregnant teenager didn’t really appreciate the reminder of how old they are.

Catelynn expresses her astonishment, writing: “That is insane to me!!!”

Children really do grow up so unbelievably quickly.

“Today at 10:39am,” Catelynn said. “You took your very first breath and brought so much joy to this world!!!”

So it’s just a universal mom thing that they remind you what time of day you were born.

“We love you so much, “Catelynn concludes. “And will talk with you later.”

(We hope that Carly doesn’t actually have free reign to explore Instagram — there are butts and a lot of lewd text on that app)

Tyler Baltierra, who has clapped back at questions over whether his mental health makes him a bad parent, also gave Carly a shoutout in May for her birthday.

“Happy Birthday to my beautiful first born!” Tyler’s message began. “I can’t believe Carly is 9 years old today.”

Right?

“I’m just so blessed,” Tyler admits. “Because I may not have the luxury of seeing her every day.”

That can be so emotionally challenging.

Despite that, he writes: “but I have the peace of mind knowing I will see her one day a year (sometimes 2).”

You cherish the time that you have.

“I have learned a lot throughout this adoption journey,” Tyler admits. “& I have made mistakes in the past regarding that relationship.”

“But I feel like I have grown up & matured through all of that,” Tyler says. “& I now realize that I need to count my blessings.”

“I am proud to say,” Tyler continues. “That I have 9 blessings,”

To be clear, Tyler does not mean that he has nine children.

Tyler explains: “9 years of seeing her grow through visits & pictures, 9 birthday cakes, & ONE child to forever impact my life in so many ways.”

“I love you Carly,” Tyler writes. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Your birth daddy loves you SO MUCH!”

That is so sweet.

It’s good that Tyler and Catelynn feel comfortable opening up about their open adoption with fans.

You know that there are Teen Mom viewers who are going through similarly difficult situations with their own families.

It’s good to see that you’re not alone.

View Slideshow: Catelynn Lowell-Tyler Baltierra Divorce: Is It Really Happening?!

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Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra Meet with Child They Placed for Adoption!

Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra had quite the day yesterday!

For the first time in two years, they got to have a visit with Carly, the daughter they placed for adoption when they were just 16 years old.

And since things have been a little tense between Catelynn and Tyler and Carly’s parents, Brandon and Theresa, it must have been an emotional time.

The issues began a few years ago, when Tyler began breaking some rules Brandon and Theresa put in place for their open adoption.

After it became clear that Teen Mom was going to be a huge deal, they asked Cate and Tyler not to put any photos of Carly on social media.

They didn’t want the little girl to be on the show, and if she did appear on the show — like she did for the wedding, for instance — they requested that her face be blurred.

From their point of view, they want Carly to have as normal a childhood as possible, and appearing on a reality show doesn’t exactly fit the bill.

But from Cate and Tyler’s point of view — mostly Tyler’s, honestly — they brought Carly into this world, so if they want to post a photo of her on Instagram, they have that right.

For a long time now, Brandon and Theresa have straight up ignored any attempts Catelynn and Tyler made to contact them.

And instead of apologizing for their behavior and trying to make things right so they could maintain a relationship with their birth daughter, they kept on disobeying their wishes.

Just a couple of months ago, Catelynn shared a photo of Carly on Instagram for Father’s Day.

But something must have happened since then, because after two years, Catelynn and Tyler were finally reunited with Carly!

They documented a tiny bit of the visit on Twitter — no photos, thank goodness, but Tyler did make a lot of statements and answer a lot questions about Carly, and about adoption in general.

“On the plan to go see Carly for the first time in 2 years,” he tweeted on Friday. “Can’t wait to see her and Novalee together. Warms my heart just thinking about it.”

Someone pointed out that Brandon and Theresa had asked them repeatedly to leave their daughter off his social media accounts — a fair point.

But he corrected them with “I can talk about whatever I want. The rule is not to post PICTURES of her on social media. Not that you deserve that explanation.”

He got into a conversation about adoption language and whether or not he was technically Carly’s parent by stating “I’m NOT her parent. I’m just her birth father.”

“Creating a child does NOT make you a parent. Raising that child does.”

“She does have birth parents,” he continued, “but she doesn’t have ‘adoptive parents’ that’s technically a term for birth parents to use. B&T are her parents.”

It’s interesting that he tweeted all this, because a few hours later he tweeted and deleted a pretty controversial comment.

Someone tweeted to him that they hoped he respects Brandon and Theresa’s rules and that “you are over your ‘she’s my kid & I’ll do what the hell I like’ attitude.”

He responded with “Oh I respect that rule … but I’ll NEVER be over my attitude. Biologically ‘that kid’ IS mine & I’ll ALWAYS do what I like. I only got 1 life.”

Which is … alarming, to say the least.

He just seems so stubborn about the entire situation, and it’s sad because Carly isn’t his kid. He’s welcome to do what he likes, but it could be at the expense of his relationship with her.

But on a happier note, after their meeting Tyler tweeted “Seeing Carly & Nova playing together, Carly pushing Nova in the stroller & holding her, omg you guys!”

He also wrote that “Carly ran right to me with a huge smile on her face when I was holding Nova, it was pretty precious!”

View Slideshow: Teen Mom & Teen Mom 2: The Complete Babies and Children Guide!

Catelynn, as usual, was a little more low-key about things, but she did tweet “Today was awesome.. seeing my two Little’s play and have fun. All I know is she is beautiful, smart, sassy, and TALL!!”

It looks like things are really looking up for everyone in this situation, right?

And thank goodness for that!

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Briana DeJesus: Is She Going to Place Her Baby for Adoption?!

Remember when we heard the news that Briana DeJesus was joining Teen Mom 2?

A lot of us weren’t too pleased with the news: Jenelle Evans, Kailyn Lowry, Leah Messer, and Chelsea Houska have been enough drama for years.

“We don’t need a new girl to dilute the trashy gift that is Teen Mom 2,” many of us thought. “She’ll just throw everything off.”

But on Monday, the first episode of the new season premiered, and we finally got to see Briana in action.

And now it is pretty obvious why MTV felt the need to add her into the mix.

These days, Chelsea’s life is picture perfect, and Leah is doing way better, too. As for Kailyn, she usually doesn’t even want to film anything.

So where is all the drama supposed to come from?

The answer, it seems, is that Briana is supposed to bring the drama now.

(And Jenelle, but that’s obvious.)

In the season premiere, we saw that Briana was dating some guy named Luis, and that they were expecting a child together.

Unfortunately, we also learned that Luis had been cheating on her.

And now, in a new sneak peek for the upcoming episode, we’re seeing the conversation she has with him after she learned the truth.

Warning: it’s probably a way more difficult conversation than you can imagine.

In the clip, Luis comes over to Briana’s home, and they sit down together to talk things out.

“I don’t know where to start, where to begin,” he tells her.

Luckily, Briana knows where to start.

“You had sex with someone else,” she states, and he agrees that he “definitely f-cked up.”

“I was stupid,” he says. “It was childish. I can’t go back — if I could, I would.”

And even though he’s giving the lamest, most generic statements about cheating, he says “I legit want us to be together and to go on with the plans we’ve had all this time.”

But she’s not having it.

“All those plans that we had, they really did go to sh-t,” she tells him. “Like, you don’t realize, the actions that you have done affects everybody.”

“I can’t be with you,” she goes on. “I’ve been through so much that I know what I want, and this is not it.”

She explains to him that she doesn’t want to feel “obligated” to stay with him because they’re having a baby together, and then she makes herself even clearer.

“My thing is, I don’t want to be with you, Luis,” she says emotionally. “I made my mind up already. I don’t want to be with you.”

She tells him that since she doesn’t want to be in a relationship with him, they have to co-parent together, but she doesn’t want to do that, either.

Luis agrees — he wants to be a parent 24/7, not just half the time.

But Briana is firm: she doesn’t want to be with him. She knows all about baby daddy issues, and she doesn’t want to deal with it.

“How do you feel about adoption?” she asks him at the end of the clip … meaning we’ll have to wait until the full episode airs to see the conversation play out.

View Slideshow: Briana DeJesus Photos: From 16 & Pregnant to Teen Mom 2!

Obviously, we know that they didn’t go through with it. Briana had the baby at the beginning of this month, and she seems thrilled to be a mother again.

But still, it looks like she’s had a hell of a time with Luis.

So do you love her being on Teen Mom 2 yet?!

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Madonna Adoption Could Have Been Derailed Over Rocco Custody Fight

Madonna had multiple good reasons to end her custody war over Rocco … if she didn’t, her bid to adopt two kids from Malawi would have come to a grinding halt. The judge who green lit Madonna’s adoption last week spent a long time…

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Madonna Scored Adoption in Just 2 Weeks, Normally Takes Several Months

Madonna’s third time adopting was a charm because what usually takes 3 to 7 months was accomplished in just 2 weeks … according to Malawi court officials. Madonna first applied to adopt Esther and Stella on January 25, which is when the story…

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Michelle Money Admits to Teenage Pregnancy, Adoption Decision

Michelle Money has come out with a very personal confession.

The former Bachelor contestant and Bachelor in Paradise star revealed in an interview with skincare brand PMD that she got accidentally pregnant as a teenager.

“I’ve been known for being very real and upfront, but there’s a big part of what makes me me that I’ve never shared before,” Money says in the segment, adding:

“When I was 15 years old I got pregnant.”

Money didn’t get into specifics regarding the identity of the father or anything, but she did take us through her thought process at the time.

“You go through all of the options in your head of how to deal with this,” she said, eventually revealing what she chose to do:

“The decision to place this baby for adoption was not an easy one, but it was the right one. The day came, my water broke. It was bittersweet. It was just very bittersweet.

“Just the process of labor and the process of delivering and feeling love that I’ve never felt before. It rocked me.”

We really can’t imagine being in that difficult position.

In video of the interview, Money shares footage of herself soon after she became a mother, with the clip depicting her holding the newborn in her arms while sitting on a hospital bed.

“When the moment came for me to say goodbye and hand him over to the social worker … it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done,” Money said.

Things didn’t get easier for the Utah native, either.

“I was really consumed with trying to prove myself to everyone and caring a lot about what people thought of me. I lost myself in that for a long time really trying to overcompensate from this mistake that I made,” she says.

“It’s taken a lot for me to get here.

“It doesn’t happen overnight where you get to where you can feel so confident in the decisions you’ve made in life and the trials that you’ve gone through.”

Money is best known for competing for the heart of Brad Womack on The Bachelor in 2011.

She has also appeared on Bachelor Pad (2011) and Bachelor in Paradise (2014) and is currently starring on Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars.

“My wish for every woman is for them to be able to look at themselves in the mirror and love every challenge, every trial, every heartache that they’ve experienced in their life and still feel beautiful,” she says, concluding:

“That, to me, is true beauty.”

Jessa Duggar Reveals Adoption Plans!

As we learned from a recently released preview, tonight’s episode of Jill and Jessa: Counting On features a scene in which the Duggars visit an orphanage in El Salvador.

Jill Duggar Visits Orphanage: Is She Adopting or Exploiting?

At first, many fans theorized that the scene was an indication that Jill and Derick would be adopting their next child.

But now, a different Duggar daughter has revealed that she’s seriously considering expanding her family through adoption:

“We have many friends who have walked this road, so we have seen firsthand the amazing power of adoption,” Jessa tells Us Weekly in a new interview.

“There are so many kids out there who are longing for the love of a family, and we feel strongly about opening our hearts and our home to welcome them in.”

Jessa has talked about adoption in the past, revealing that she and husband Ben Seewald would “would love to adopt many kids.”

While Jessa says she’s excited about the prospect of welcoming a new Duggar, she was careful to note that she and Ben are currently focused on raising baby Spurgeon, and have no immediate plans to give him any brothers or sisters.

View Slideshow: Jessa Duggar Baby Photos: Welcome #BabySeewald!

“We don’t know what the future holds, but as the Bible says, ‘Man plans his way, and God directs his steps,"” Jessa says.

“So we want to move forward with paperwork and a home study, and just be ready for however God opens those doors.”

Will she try to outdo her famously fertile folks in the offspring department?

Don’t count on it.

“It’s not really about any specific number, but cherishing and loving the ones God brings to us – whether that be just one, or whether it be more, we’ll be grateful.”

Watch Jill & Jessa: Counting On online to get caught up in time for tonight’s trip to the orphanage.

(Which may well end with a surprise adoption.)

View Slideshow: Jessa Duggar Baby Bump Pics: 1 & Counting!

Sandra Bullock Welcomes Daughter Through Adoption!

Back in October, we reported that Sandra Bullock adopted a second child, but had chosen not to share the news publicly.

Now, Sandra has finally decided to share her joyous news with millions of adoring fans.

Sandy appears on the cover of the new issue of People with her son Louis, 5, and new daughter Laila, 3.

Inside the magazine, she gives a remarkably candid interview about her expanding family and her transformative love for her two children:

“When I look at Laila, there’s no doubt in my mind that she was supposed to be here,” Bullock says. “I can tell you absolutely, the exact right children came to me at the exact right time.”

Adorably, she says Louis guided her through the process of welcoming Laila into their family.

“Louis spearheaded this whole journey,” Sandra tells the magazine. “I knew she was scared, and all I wanted was for her to know Louis and I weren’t going anywhere.”

Sandy says that in her first months in their home, little Laila has brought “pink and glitter in the house mixed with Legos and Batmans.”

Bullock is fiercely protective of her privacy, but sources say Laila isn’t the only new addition to her household in recent months.

Sandra has been dating Bryan Randall (the photographer who snapped the fantastic cover image above) since August, and insiders claim he recently moved in with her and has been serving as a co-parent to Sandy’s kids.