Stronger than ever. Tyler Baltierra and Catelynn Lowell’s relationship has come a long way since the 16 and Pregnant alums conceived their first child.
The Michigan natives’ family lives were “insane” when Lowell, 29, got pregnant, Baltierra, also 29, said during the Wednesday, November 17, episode of the “Reality Life With Kate Casey” podcast.
“I remember just staring at her while she was sleeping, like, ‘Oh, my God, I can’t bring a kid into this craziness,’” he explained. “At that time, my dad was with her mom, they were both using [drugs], it was just kind of wild and unpredictable and crazy. So for me, it was just pure panic. … We both kind of looked around. Like, it was just natural without any words. It was, like, a feeling. From then on, we just kind of knew adoption was just the right thing to do.”
Lowell gave birth to Carly, now 12, in 2009, and they placed her for adoption with Brandon Davis and Teresa Davis. The pair went on to welcome daughter Novalee, 6, in 2015, before tying the knot later that same year. Vaeda, 2, and Rya, 2 months, arrived in 2019 and 2021, respectively.
“You do get sad having more children after [adoption],” Baltierra said on Wednesday. “But then it does ease the pain of not knowing at all what [raising Carly] was like. When we saw Nova get older … we [went] back to old pictures that Teresa sent us when [Carly] was that same age and it helped a little bit.”
Having children subsequently pushed the Teen Mom OG stars to pursue therapy. “We actually were thankful because it kind of helped … get this thing in check that we kind of ignored for a while,” he said. “So we really feel like, in a way, our children just saved us. They came to us exactly at the right time when they were supposed to be in our lives and helped project the healing.”
Since the MTV personalities have a semi-open adoption with Brandon and Teresa, they have visited with Carly over the years. The “beautiful” preteen has met Novalee, Vaeda and Rya and looks exactly like them, Baltierra gushed.
The reality stars last saw their eldest child in an episode of the show earlier this month and saying goodbye to Carly hit “differently” this time around.
“She’s not a little kid. She’s 12. Like, she has more mature emotions,” the Conquering Chaos author explained. “She’s really understanding the situation that we’re in. For the first time I [saw] her have a hard time saying goodbye, which made me … totally lose it. It’s a weird thing to want to [comfort her] naturally, organically, and then realize, ‘Oh, wait.’ You can’t because you’re not really raising her. And those are her parents. It’s kind of crazy.”
Baltierra called adoption an emotional “tug of war,” adding, “That’s adoption. That’s just how it is.”
