‘Teen Mom’ Star Cory Wharton Gives Update Following Infant Daughter Maya’s Heart Surgery: “This Has Been The Worst Experience of My Life”

After remaining silent on social media for a few days, Teen Mom: The Next Chapter dad Cory Wharton and his girlfriend Taylor Selfridge have returned to social media to provide an update on their daughter Maya’s health. 

On January 4, Cory revealed the seven-month old–– who was born with a rare form of heart disease called tricuspid atresia–– would be having open heart surgery and asked followers for prayers. After the surgery, Cory indicated that things hadn’t gone as they had hoped. Although he initially posted a couple of updates about Maya after her surgery, the posts quickly came to a halt. Cory’s next update came about five days after Maya’s surgery took place.

(Cory and Taylor previously shared that they had known about Maya’s heart condition since Taylor was about 22 weeks pregnant, and that their daughter would need a series of procedures due to her heart condition, one taking place the first week of her life. At just six days old, Maya had a stent put in place. In addition to her most-recent open heart surgery, Maya will need to have a second open heart surgery when she’s 3 or 4 years old.)

“I will have an update for you all later, right now I’ll just tell you that Maya is a fighter and things don’t always go as planned but we’re gonna continue to pray,” Cory wrote soon after Maya’s surgery. “Keep trying to make steps forward.”

Fans began to become concerned after Cory and Taylor stopped updating, and, on Saturday, Kyle Floyd (the father of Cory’s baby mama Cheyenne), shared a prayed on Instagram, seemingly in reference to Maya, though he did not mention her name. During his prayer, he prayed for the baby girl to make it to her first birthday and live a long life after being healed.

“ … You know I don’t understand it all,” he said in his post. “It’s so complicated, so complex, I don’t even try to understand it. But I do know, is you can do big things. I know this. And right now, make this child pain free. Make this child healthy. Give the parents some relief. They’re good parents, they’re young parents, give them some relief, take some stress off of them. Let their mind be at peace. They’re good people, they’re trying … .” 

Cory returned to social media over the weekend, providing followers with an update on Maya’s eleventh day in the hospital. He wrote that Maya’s medical ordeal has been “the worse experience of my life.”

“We are still in the hospital in ICU, this has been the worst experience of my life, to watch your child sit there and stare into your soul to DO SOMETHING to help and there’s nothing I can do smfh,” he wrote. “I don’t even know how to sum it all up. I just continue to pray.” 

Taylor also resumed posting updates, claiming she and Cory were “traumatized” by what has happened, but assuring fans that Maya was “doing well now.” 

“Still here,” she wrote. “Maya had other plans for her recovery but she’s doing well now. Cory and I are traumatized but it’s fine. I’ll update on everything when we get out of here.” 

Taylor also shared a couple of positive Instagram Stories– one revealing Maya’s first tooth, and another of Maya smiling.

“I told her if she would just stop setting off her alarms we could go home,” Taylor wrote.  

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(Photos: Instagram) 

21 Comments

  1. Every time I see a post about their baby my heart drops. My son had a major surgery at about the same age and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through. People can feel however they want about her parents but I wouldn’t wish an illness, condition, or any medical issue on my worst enemy’s infant or child. I also don’t think it’s a big deal that they shared it on social media. Sometimes that’s the easiest way to keep people informed. I shared photos and updates about my son because it was easier to write one post here and there than it was to update several people multiple times. Plus having to repeat something like that over and over is emotionally exhausting.
    Definitely sending her some positive vibes. I will say though that a positive to her being so young is that she won’t remember any of this when she is older.


  2. What a beautiful baby girl❤️I am praying and will continue to pray for her complete recovery.I wish nothing but the best for this family and that this will all be a distant memory sooner than later. Stay strong and know people are sending love,prayers and support your way.


  3. I wish with all my heart that sweet baby gets well soon and they all can put this behind them.
    That being said, I really wish that Cory stops exposing his baby in ICU. There’s no need for him to do that. She deserves privacy specially now, she didn’t asked for her parents to be reality TV people.


    1. You don’t think bringing awareness of the very real situation of a child going through heart issues is important?

      They nor she can help that it’s her going through it and not a regular child.


      1. You can bring awareness about a medical condition without plastering the internet with pics of your child with vials and catheters all over her little body. Hell, you can even post a pic of the hospital room if you think it’s absolutely vital. Reality people (in general, not just Cory) have no respect whatsoever for other people’s privacy, especially their children’s


        1. Sometimes the internet/social media is the easiest and quickest way to send updates because its one post and done as opposed to repeating the same thing over and over again…its just like Jade said in an earlier post that is emotionally draining to a parent!! A parent (famous or otherwise) should only have to focus on being their for the child thats suffering and not have to give updates one after the other after the other.

          And why not share pictures of her progress? She’s a beautiful little girl and deserves the best care their is out there but shame on her parents for being able to provide that for her and shame on them for proving to negative nancies such as yourself that they are able to provide that when so many others arent!!

          You only see the act they put on for television, you don’t see what goes on behind the scenes…these two are real people with real issues. We should be lifting them up not putting them down!!


        2. Vials and catheters?

          I see a nasal cannula, tele leads, an IV and a central line… Plus old as hell IV pumps… relax. Or don’t look at the pictures if it bothers you that much…


        3. Normally I would agree that Corey puts too much out there but I think in this situation they’ve done good. It says they both took a break from posting during the worst of it. I think it’s important for people, especially those with a large following, to share their hardships along with the happy moments instead of portraying a seemingly perfect life. The pictures may be hard to look at but those are memories, it’s something that Maya may want to see when she’s older.


  4. My heart breaks for them. The stress they must be under along with the fear they’re feeling must be horrendous. Also the financial burden as well must be tremendous even with insurance. The fact they are so young doesn’t help either. I hope they have a good support system with tangible help being offered and not just prayers/healing thoughts. Those help but tangible help by the people around them will go a long way in helping to ease some of the burden on them. Get well and strong soon Baby Maya! You have many rooting for you little one!


    1. Look, downvote me all you want but this is a BABY, she doesn’t deserve this. She deserves all the positive vibes and well wishes people are willing to give her.

      And idc what your opinions are about Cory or Taylor, the fact is that they too deserve positive vibes and well wishes because NO PARENT should have to go a day wondering if their child is gonna live to see 1, 5 or any age for that matter.

      It’s scary as hell, I’ve never had to thankfully go through it but I know people that have…including my own mother.

      So please, have a heart people!!


  5. Having a child go through such an ordeal is absolutely traumatizing, no matter what anyone says. I don’t even care who her parents are, they could be the worst people on the planet, and I would feel that trauma right down to my soul. But, children are far more resilient than we think, they bounce back long before we do. They bounce back ridiculously fast, quite often we assume we will too.

    I hope, once little Maya is home, even if they don’t want it, someone offers them the time and space to deal with their own emotions and feelings, because they’ll need it. No one ever thinks they will, they think getting home, on the road to recovery, doing good, is all they’ll need, it won’t be. That kind of stuff has a habit of bringing out sides of people they don’t know exist, or just the most negative parts of themselves, even long after the fact.

    NICU, PICU, even just short visits for minor issues, my heart starts tumbling around every time. You’re never “back to normal”, there is no “normal” there is just…life, and you have to deal with everything that comes up when it does. Not pretend to “be strong”, because that’s a crock of shit, we have emotions for a reason. I can’t even smell rubbing alcohol sometimes without my heart skipping a few beats, damn eyeglass wipes are torture, lol! Then you take those minutes and breaths you need to decompress, and you’re back where you need to be.


  6. Idk about any gossip or any opinions. I’m not even a religious person and I closed my eyes and silently thought of this baby and her family. Bless her heart and heal it whole.


  7. She is so precious every movement she makes will set those off also prayers for you all and ur daughter hope she gets to come home soon stay positive.


  8. Sending ALL my prayers to this little baby girl 🙏
    I know we all like to have a laugh at some of the girls’expense from the show, but this is different. I hope this sweet child is healed & able to live a happy, healthy, normal life.


    1. ^^^ What you and Daisy below you said. I don’t think I ever came close to shedding a tear from an Ashley article before.

      I hope Cheyenne REALLY regrets what she said about white babies back in the day(even though Maya is mixed race). Her family seems to be supportive and deeply worried. Cheyenne has likely grown and changed perspectives, especially for the sake her daughter’s sister.


  9. Happy to know she’s doing better.
    You don’t wish this to happen to your worst enemy as a parent.
    I hope she and they will be able to leave this mostly behind them within a few years.
    She’s so adorable by the way, that picture of her smiling!

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