“Teen Mom” star Catelynn Lowell and her husband, Tyler Baltierra, have been very vocal about their upset with the adoptive parents of their biological daughter, Carly, as well as the adoption industry as a whole.
She and Tyler put Carly up for adoption during the first season of MTV’s “16 and Pregnant.” Since then, there has been continuous drama with her adoptive parents, Brandon and Teresa Davis, who reportedly closed the adoption and cut off their contact with Carly.
Most recently, Catelynn went “live” on TikTok for nearly 19 minutes and answered fans’ questions about the adoption arrangement.
Teresa has allegedly reached out to Catelynn in the past, expressing frustration over how she and Tyler speak about the situation online. Nonetheless, Catelynn seemingly feels entitled to share her perspective with the public.
“We already lost the most important thing to us, so now we’re going to put everything out there because it’s really important that everybody knows the full scope of the situation,” she explained.
During her TikTok live, Catelynn claimed not to believe that her new podcast with Tyler, “Cate & Ty Break It Down!” will harm Carly or their relationship with the teen, saying, “Our podcast is not just adoption-centered. We talk about all types of things, so I don’t think it would negatively impact her at all.”
She also made it clear that she didn’t plan to take Brandon and Teresa to court in order to reestablish communication with her daughter.
According to Catelynn, Michigan isn’t a state where birth parents can take adoptive parents to court for not fulfilling adoption agreements.
Moreover, there was never anything legally binding in Carly’s adoption, saying that Brandon and Teresa needed to allow Catelynn and Tyler to stay in touch.
“So open adoption is basically hoping that they keep their words… And that’s why I think about how there are certain things that I wish I could go back and change, but I can’t, you know?” she admitted.
Aside from the lack of legal grounds, Catelynn discussed how going after Brandon and Teresa in court wouldn’t be beneficial for Carly, either.
“I wouldn’t take her parents to court. I feel like that could do way more harm and cause a lot more trauma and make [Carly] feel like she has to choose between us and them, and I would never want to put her in that situation,” she added.
Certain fans questioned whether Tyler and his mother, Kim, pushed Catelynn to place Carly up for adoption in the first place.
In fact, some even insinuated that Tyler threatened to leave if Catelynn kept Carly, but she denied all those claims and defended her husband.
“Tyle never forced me to give my kid away. That’s disgusting. Like, that you guys would think that [is] just wrong. If you feel like anybody forced me to place my child, you’re dead wrong,” she said.
“If you think I’m that weak of a person and a woman to choose a man over my child, that’s disgusting. It was my decision. I could have changed my decision at any time that I wanted to.”
Catelynn stood by her choice, too, sharing how she doesn’t regret placing Carly for adoption. Still, she confessed that if she could “go back” and “do it all over at 16,” she would change a lot of things.
Finally, she hasn’t hesitated to speak out against the adoption industry and call for legal reform. Catelynn echoed this belief during her TikTok live, voicing her disgust at the price of adopting a baby in the U.S. and urging anyone who’s pursuing adoption to obtain legal representation.
“I think it’s crazy that it costs thousands and thousands of dollars for people to adopt children. Like, you are literally buying babies, which is crazy to me,” she stated.
