Promoting life

MTV’s Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra speak to Cathal Barry about life, pregnancy and adoption

When news broke that the stars of MTV’s hit series 16 and Pregnant and Teen Mom were to travel to Ireland, most assumed it was as part of a press junket to woo Irish audiences into becoming hooked on yet another shock TV show.

Most were surprised, however, to discover the real reason for their visit was to promote something extremely close to the hearts of the Irish people: life.

Catelynn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra’s harrowing story will be familiar to fans of the popular shows. The two are outspoken advocates of adoption after giving up their birth daughter Carly to “wonderful” parents because they knew they wouldn’t be able to care for her adequately, and MTV were on hand to document their journey.

The pair would stop me here. Both are big on “positive adoption language”. “We encourage people to use more positive language around adoption,” they told The Irish Catholic. The idea is that phrases like ‘give up’ and ‘give away’ should be avoided, because in their own words, “a baby is not an old pair of shoes”. They prefer to say they ‘placed’ their child into adoption instead.

The couple were just 16 years old they discovered Catelynn was pregnant. Both were still in school and being from disadvantaged backgrounds, they knew how difficult it would be for them to raise a child. Faced with a decision that more and more young people face today, they suddenly had to stop being teenagers and start thinking about their future.

Catelynn was born and raised in Michigan, but moved as many as 20 times from different cities, suburbs, and small towns during her childhood. She was brought up by April, her single, alcohol dependent mother, in a very unstable household. 

Tyler, also from Michigan, was raised by Kim, also a single mother, who worked multiple jobs to provide for Tyler and his older sister, Amber. Tyler’s father, a crack addict, was in and out of prison most of his life and rarely present.

After concluding that they couldn’t provide their daughter with the life she deserved, Catelynn and Tyler made the incredibly difficult decision to place their child into a home with better opportunities and stability for her future.

The pair spent considerable time with their adoption counsellor researching and evaluating prospective parents for their daughter before settling on Brandon and Teresa, who appealed to Catelynn and Tyler because of their devout Christian faith, strong morals, financial stability, and outstanding education.

They chose an open adoption through Bethany Christian Adoption Services, allowing for them to stay in contact with Carly and her adoptive parents periodically for the rest of her life.

Since making the decision to place their daughter into an adoptive home, Tyler and Catelynn have travelled America promoting adoption and discussing their positive experience with it. Recently, they found themselves here in Ireland to promote the ‘Love Life Festival’, and filled The Irish Catholic in on their story.

Catelynn is aware of the value of life, defying her mother who was pressurising her to have an abortion, by following through with her pregnancy and placing her daughter into a caring and loving home instead.

She wanted to “break the cycle” of instability she grew up in.

“As long as I can remember I have known abortion was definitely not for me. But when I found out I was pregnant I had nothing. I hadn’t graduated from High School, I didn’t have a job, I didn’t have a car, I would have to raise her in the same environment and household that I was raised in and I just didn’t want that for my daughter,” she said.

“We were going to bring an innocent child into the world and we just wanted her to have the life that she deserved to have,” Tyler interjected.

The pair opted for an open adoption to avoid “identity and abandonment issues” in the future and get to see or speak to their daughter regularly.

In Catelynn’s words: “The most important thing for us was that our daughter would never have any questions and know the reason we made such a decision was for her own good.”

They are also delighted to have “completed a family” by giving “the gift of life” to adoptive parents Brandon and Teresa.

The young couple were similarly intent on bettering their own lives. Tyler recalls “making a promise” to make their daughter proud on the day they gave Carly to her adoptive parents. Since then, the pair have been constantly achieving the targets they have set for themselves.

Catelynn has graduated from high school and is studying social work in her pursuit of working for Bethany Adoption Services full-time upon graduation.

She hopes to work with pregnant mothers, struggling with the same decision she made at a young age, with little family support.

Meanwhile, Tyler is currently pursuing his two year, associate’s degree at a Michigan Community College and plans on finishing his education studying psychology at university.

In the future, Tyler wants to counsel juvenile delinquents and other youth experiencing similar challenges that he faced growing up.

They both now work with special needs children which they say is “really rewarding work”.

Looking back now, do the pair have any regrets? “None,” they said assuredly.

“Honestly,” Catelynn elaborates, “I have no regrets whatsoever. The life that my daughter has now is amazing. I wish I could have had it myself. I find great peace in my decision,” she said.

“It was for the best,” Tyler added. “For our daughter and for ourselves.”