Teen Mom’s Catelynn Lowell is sharing an update about her relationship with daughter Carly’s adoptive parents, Brandon and Teresa.
Catelynn took to her Instagram Stories Monday morning, where she claimed that she’s been “blocked” by the pair, saying that both Brandon and Teresa have ignored her for months — after allegedly refusing to let Catelynn and husband Tyler Baltierra see their daughter on her 15th birthday.
“Adoption is crazy. I’m blocked all because of me sending updates and pictures of her sisters.. how is that fair for Carly and her siblings? It’s sad for sure.. But, makes me sad for the kids…,” Catelynn wrote. “When you’er a bio mom you have no say … non control.. all I can do is show Carly in the future how much I tried and continue to do so … she can make the decision herself to understand who shut who out…”
The now 31-year-old reality star proceeded to share screen grabs of her alleged messages to Carly’s adoptive mom, Teresa, which featured mostly messages from Cate with updates on Carly’s younger siblings as she attempted to reach out, only to — as she put it — get “ignored for months” before being “blocked.”
While Catelynn said she gave Brandon and Teresa one of her “biggest gifts ever,” she told fans she won’t allow the couple to “take her voice,” and hopes that by posting, Carly will see her pleas and know that she has consistently tried to get in touch.
“To I know mean nothing to the APs (adoptive parents) but just a womb to give a child hurts my heart… I’m a person with feelings, the children I’m parenting have feelings… Carly has feelings.. A child being involved with extra people that only love and support them,” she continued.
“How is that threatening? I’ll never understand.”
As for why she believes Brandon and Teresa allegedly cut off communication, Catelynn said she feels Carly’s adoptive parents feel “scared” and “threatened” because Carly would allegedly ask questions about why they don’t get together more amid after increasing in-person visits in recent years.
Despite the drama, Catelynn maintained that she will “ALWAYS support Carly loving her parents” as they’re the ones who raised her, but does not see how keeping the girl’s biological parents away from her helps their daughter.
“The fact that they keep us distant and Carly’s siblings distant does not help Carly… anyone would know that if they were adoptee informed,” Catelynn added, before ending her post with another slide assuring fans that she’s not putting Brandon and Teresa “on blast” but rather sharing her own feelings.
Fans on the franchise will recall that Catelynn and Tyler welcomed Carly when they were just 16, and ultimately made the difficult decision to put her up for adoption — all of which was documented first on 16 and Pregnant and then on the subsequent Teen Mom spinoffs.
Catelynn and Tyler entered an open adoption with the couple, which allowed them to remain in contact with Brandon and Teresa and receive updates on Carly, even having visits with her in recent years that have included time spent with Catelynn and Tyler’s three younger daughters, Nova, 9, Vaeda, 5, and Rya, 2, well as their parents.
Their last visit with Carly came last summer, after Catelynn and Tyler shared an emotional reunion with their daughter, which marked their first visit in over two years. Catelynn posted a black-and-white family photo from the reunion on Instagram at the time.
“Had an amazing visit with our girl ❤️ she’s funny, kind, SMART, goofy and STUNNING 😍,” Catelynn captioned the photo. “Adoption is hard and saying goodbye time and time again is soooo hard!!!!” she continued. “But seeing all of our girls together, getting to know Carly deeper and deeper each time and being with all four of our daughters is truly such a blessing!!!!”
She also added the hashtags #adoption #loveyou and #mygirls.
In Catelynn’s post marking Carly’s 15th birthday, Catelynn wrote that she was hopeful she would be able to celebrate her eldest daughter’s birthday with her one day, writing, “I look forward to knowing that one day we will be lucky enough to celebrate with her and B&T I can’t wait for that day!” she added. “@tylerbaltierramtv we are soooo blessed to have our girls!!”
After claiming they weren’t able to see the teen for her 15th birthday in May, Catelynn’s husband Tyler later took to social media to clear the air a bit too.
“Carly is almost 15 years old. Throughout those 15 years, her parents have chosen not to have our (mutually agreed upon) annual visit, MULTIPLE times!” he wrote at the time. “This is nothing new or foreign to our story & there’s nothing we have done in our personal lives that has influenced this decision. Now is it always disappointing & hurtful when it happens? Yes of course. Is it sad? Yeah. But at the the end of the day, Brandon & Teresa are HER PARENTS! They are the only ones who have the authority to make these decisions.”
“We can waste our time asking questions, dissecting responses, & begging for an answer…but we are NOT entitled to it (regardless of how much we may believe/wish otherwise). All we can do is accept the decision without the requirement of an answer,” Tyler added. “We have to just trust that their decision is for the best interest of Carly. Because that is the honor, privilege, & gift we chose to give them when we decided that they would raise her & be her parents.”
