Catelynn Lowell is kicking 2026 off with some very heavy feelings regarding Carly, the daughter she and husband Tyler Baltierra placed for adoption after her birth in 2009.
As Teen Mom fans know, Catelynn and Tyler placed Carly for adoption during their episode of 16 & Pregnant. In 2024, Carly’s parents, Brandon and Teresa Davis cut off communication with Cate and Ty, and haven’t allowed them to talk to Carly, who is now 16. Although Tyler recently stated that he’s “at peace” with the Carly situation, it does not appear that Catelynn feels the same way.
In the caption of a video posted to TikTok showing photos of her with Carly, Catelynn revealed that she is only able to function because she’s holding out hope that she will be to speak to Carly again once she becomes an adult.
“Somedays I’m okay for the most part…” Catelynn wrote. “Then others I am flooded with emotions, what’s ifs and guilt… I don’t think people understand that this pain and sorrow never goes away. The missing and wanting to know never fades…
“I wouldn’t wish this type of sadness and grief on my worst enemies,” she added.
@catebaltierra Somedays I’m okay for the most part… Then others I am flooded with emotions, what’s ifs and guilt… I don’t think people understand that this pain and sorrow never goes away. The missing and wanting to know never fades… I wouldn’t wish this type of sadness and grief on my worst enemies. I guess I just hold onto the hope. The hope that maybe one day, we will all be able to have a conversation when she’s grown… the hope is the only thing that gets me through right now. #relinquishment #ptsd #grief ♬ I Am Not Okay – Jelly Roll
Catelynn— who, along with Tyler— was very outspoken against adoption in 2025, then stated that she is waiting until Carly is an adult to see if they can reconnect.
“I guess I just hold onto the hope. The hope that maybe one day, we will all be able to have a conversation when she’s grown… the hope is the only thing that gets me through right now,” she wrote, hashtagging the post #relinquishment #ptsd #grief.
In addition to speaking out against the concept of adoption Catelynn (who, at one point last year, called adoption “buying babies”) and Tyler have also spoken out against Brandon and Teresa, whom they claim agreed to whatever they had to in order to be able to adopt Carly, even though they didn’t intend to follow through with the agreements.
In the comment section of her post, someone pointed out that Brandon and Teresa love Carly and have seemingly given her a good life.
“If she chooses to reach out to you someday then that’s a bonus and, if not, you have to know that the decision you made for her at birth was the right one for all involved,” the person wrote.
Catelynn didn’t deny that Brandon and Teresa have given Carly a good life, but did, however, point out that the birth parents’ trauma over giving up their child doesn’t go away because their child is doing well.
“Agree with what you say,” Cate wrote. “But I don’t think people know the full impact it has on the birth parents for their lives… it will all be up to her and I’m okay with that.”
Back in November, Tyler told fans that he’s made peace with the fact that he doesn’t currently have a relationship with Carly, and that he may never have a chance for reconciliation if Carly doesn’t want it.
“I have so much peace & faith in her own spiritual wisdom & autonomy, that one day…we’ll either all sit around a bonfire together talking about how wild of a ride life is or we won’t,” he wrote. “It’s all about where her journey leads her & if not, that’s also okay, it’s simply divinity’s orchestra at work.”
Tyler claimed that he’s leaving the situation with Carly up to fate, but said he’ll always be “applauding from the sidelines for her strength and courage to follow her intuition. Her spirit is strong, I feel it & that strength gives me immense peace.”
Brandon and Teresa have never released a public statement regarding cutting off Cate and Tyler.
RELATED STORY: Tyler Baltierra Says He’s “At Peace” Over Current Situation with Bio Daughter Carly: “I’ll Always Be Applauding On the Sidelines”
49 Responses
You know, kids….you could have had that ongoing relationship with her if you would have respected the adoptive parents wishes to stop exposing her life to the world. That’s all they asked. They didn’t want the MTV connection, they wanted Carly to grow up with some semblance of privacy in her life.
You chose money and “television fame” over respecting Carly’s privacy and having a relationship with her. YOU chose that. And now that the MTV money is gone, you’ve got nothing. No jobs, no skills, and because of your lack of respect, no relationship with Carly.
Go hug your pet pig and therapy horses, get an education, start supporting yourselves, and leave the poor kid alone already.
Hope they cancel this shit show and her fat lazy arse will have to get job
They wanted place holders not an adoption. They wanted the joy without the burden.
They’re idiots.
Should’ve listened to mom catelynn
I strongly believe that If Carly wanted to have a relationship with them, they would have one. She doesn’t, and her parents are taking the bullet for her.
Maybe if C & T had bothered to learn a skill, get some education, and become gainfully employed, they would have a lot less time to endlessly lament about Carly. Once the Teen Mom gravy train finally ends, (which sounds like it finally is)they will be moving back in with Butch and April.
I wish they could just be happy that Carly has such a good life. They made the right decision to give her up. They can’t see how lucky they are to have had other kids.
She gave her baby up because Tyler and his mother told her to. I’m sick of this whining.
Cate any Ty are not taking into consideration that Carly will likely have trauma due to the fact that the two of them have made all of this public without any consideration to her. They are always talking “trauma, therapy, trauma, therapy, rinse, repeat” and never consider bettering themselves, becoming productive members of society, or just moving on. Yeah, I think Carly is the only victim here.
Maybe if they had actual jobs for the last 15 years, they wouldn’t be sitting around ruminating on their “trauma” and cycling into irrationality, ketamine, and therapy horses. They should look into that.
Ngl, I know people who fit irrationality and ketamine OR horses into their gainfully employed lives. Just takes a bit of planning.
I feel like everyone forgets that she was a teenager when she made this decision. Teenagers are incapable of fully realizing the consequences of such a huge decision. It was apparent watching her 16& pregnant episode that she had no idea the adoption was going to go this way and she thought she would have more access. Whether you agree with her or not, she carried and birthed that child. Only a psychopath could just forget and move on without being affected. We also have to remember that the show only shows one aspect of their lives and their story has always been adoption. I’m sure they focus more on their other kids than the camera shows. I feel for all involved.
Thank God she didn’t decide to parent then. Since teenagers don’t understand consequences to decisions and all.
She was a teen then, but she is an adult now. And she can feel however she wants to in private. No one is saying she should forget Carly, but she isn’t remembering privately. She is choosing to continuously talk about this in public. That is why she got cut off in the first place. It is not lost on me that they have monetized this whole thing and get paid for talking about Carly. Let’s not pretend that this isn’t why she handles this privately like 99.999% of other birth parents.
As it is her right to talk about it. As someone who has watched from the beginning, it isn’t lost on me that when she was praising adoption and advocating for adoption, she got a lot of love and respect from fans. The minute she started to question it, everyone turned on her. Her story had ALWAYS been about adoption from the very beginning. No one had a problem with it until Caitlyn started to speak out about her experience being different than she thought it would be.
She gets raked over the coals because she has no regard for the people on the other side. Talking poorly about Brandon and Theresa (and she has made very pointed remarks about them) hurts Carly She has no boundaries. She was texting with an alleged minor who she thought was friends with Carly, trying to gain access. That’s unhinged, especially when her lack of boundaries is the exact reason why she was cut off. She is her own worst enemy.
Her “story” has been about adoption because that’s what earns her money. She could have chosen at any time to get an actual career that doesn’t depend on exploiting her bio-child.
These two grifters are back at it, no matter the cost to Carly, Carly’s family, or their own three daughters.
This wound was self-inflicted. Their behavior is the reason why they were cut off. They had access to Carly for over 13-14 years and kept pushing the boundaries because that child is their meal ticket. I have no sympathy left for them.
If I were Theresa and Brandon, I would not want my daughter to have any communication with these two.
1. They have no jobs
2. They have no ambition
3. Butch
4. April
5. Tyler’s sister ( her name escapes me)
6. They were not consistent with gifts, cards and visits. Again, I remember Cait being late because of last minute scrap booking on another scheduled visit.
I think Theresa and Brandon are grateful but less than tolerable of their behavior and lifestyle since then. Surely, they see what we see and perhaps more.
These two should focus on the three daughters they have and think about jobs.
They have no redeeming qualities.
Cate you gave up your baby in order to keep Tyler. He and his mother put the pressure on you. He flat I told you he was going to leave if you kept the baby. You need to make peace with that for the sake of your three other daughters. Stop blaming adoption stop blaming everybody else.
The thing that I don’t understand is how Catelynn and Tyler seem to take no comfort from the fact that Carly has everything that they said they wanted for her. The fact that by all accounts she is happy and healthy, seems to actually bother them, rather than give them peace.
C&T keep forgetting why they gave Carly up for adoption. They had a shitty life and could t possibly give a baby a somewhat good life …keep that in mind!
They keep thinking that Carly would live the life they have now, but be real, if it wansnt for Teenmom they would be living in a situation way worse and probably not together anymore. They would be like April…and thats why they gave Carly up for adoption and it was beautiful for Carly and so out of love for this little girl.
Keep remind yourself why you gave her up and not the life you have now.
This couple is a perfect example of why adoptions should be closed, until the child turns 18. At 18, if they chose, they can go looking foe their birth parents.
The problem as I see it, is T&C had too many additional bonding hours with their visits. Of course a connection for them was made, that unbreakable bonding happened and now they are suffering for it.
for f*cking out loud ~ can these two EVER shut the f*ck up about carly?
as i’ve said many (many!) times, it’s (obvi) creepy, obsessive and 💯 insulting to their 3️⃣ daughters.
Well I feel for them because I remember that episode and they were promised that they would have access to her. They could write her. They could see her and that’s not what’s happened.
However on the other side of the coin when they were making efforts to go see them. They were routinely an hour or more late to visit their own daughter!! How rude can you be to her and her adoptive parents?
Who stepped in adopted your daughter have done a wonderful job with her.
The adoptive parents were less than thrilled that these two were actively smoking pot and engaging in some other activities that they don’t agree with.
As you all have stated they do nothing but say that they’re not going to talk about her and then they turn around and talk about her.
And I agree with everyone else who said that they need to go get some counseling You’re absolutely right. Warms my heart to see so many smart people in the comment section!
They need to go get some counseling as a family It’s completely unfair to their other daughters even the way they talk about Carly in comparison to them.
They got more than what they were promised. They’ve seen her multiple times. She was even their flower girl. They were allowed to write and send gifts – they just usually chose not to and admitted that. Sending private letters doesn’t earn them any money. That’s the sad reality of it.
I believe the papers said visits until Carly was 5 years old and pictures until she was 18 years old. I’m sure there has to be a clause that it is at Brandon and Teresa’s discretion. What Cate & Ty did is repeatedly break trust with them at all costs. When they did see Carly Cate & Ty would show up late. They acted like Brandon & Teresa needed to cancel their plans to accommodate when Cate & Ty wanted to see Carly. Repeatedly told to stop discussing Carly on social media and TV. Not only did they double down but they amped it up. Tyler made constant comments about how it was “MY adoption experience and he was allowed to talk about Carly anytime he wanted”. Then Cate started doing it. Their entire segments were nothing but Carly, Carly, Carly and what horrible slight they felt Brandon & Teresa did to them. On one episode of TM Cate showed the camera texts that had gone unanswered she sent to B, T & Carly. I zoomed in on those and it almost seemed taunting to me. It was literally text after text multiple times a day saying things like “We are on vacation in Florida. Wish you were here to experience this with us. We are having a blast & your sisters keep asking why you aren’t here” then they would proceed to send pictures of everything they did that vacation. Riding in the car, stopping to get something to eat, fishing, swimming, being in the hotel, going site seeing all while sending messages about how they couldn’t help but to think what Carly would be doing and how much fun she would be having if she were with them.
It reminded me of Jenelle. Jenelle would get Jace every now and then have him go swimming, on vacation or riding ATV’s and she would taunt him saying “You could be doing this all the time if you lived with me, Jace. Wouldn’t that be fun? We could do this every day. You should tell Barb you want to come live with us.” Or like my dumbass ex. I did everything. Paid every bill, worked overtime, was a parent to my kids. He would pop up once in a blue moon with toys and let’s go do fun stuff your mom won’t. Knowing full well that it wasn’t because I wouldn’t it’s because I couldn’t afford to because I was doing EVERYTHING emotionally, physically and financially. I cut that shit off real quick. My kids are adults now and have thanked me for not allowing instability in their lives.
I swear…I know we’re all so tired of hearing about Carly from these two. They are absolutely delusional to think that she will ever want to talk to them again and if by chance she does, it probably won’t be a happy one. They cannot fathom the hurt they’ve caused her. The amount they’ve used her for storylines and the constant badmouthing of her parents will never make Carly come to them and “hear them out.” If I was Carly, I’d wait until the oldest daughter is 18 and reach out to her and develop a relationship with her sisters from that point if she wants to. Without cate and Tyler being involved at all. Cate and tyler… we know you read these, go to family therapy with your 3 daughters and actually invest in loving them instead of making their whole lives being the “not Carlys.” That’s the only way you’ll heal and stop generational trauma you always applaud yourselves for overcoming.
Since when did you get separated from Carly(like she wast ripped from yor arms)? You placed her for ADOPTION.
Jesus god Leah again with blah blah Carly. These two slobs are just broken records now.
Every time they open their mouths, they prove just how unhealed they are. Trauma doesn’t go away for anyone. They aren’t special. They have had nearly 20yrs and THOUSANDS of dollars that could’ve been invested into them healing themselves. They should’ve put in that work before having more kids. Now they’re parenting from a place of hurt and regret. They have 3 “other Carly’s” that will never fill that gap for them. Either go to therapy or stfu. We’re tired of hearing about it when you’re unwilling to do anything about it.
What happened to them saying they weren’t going to discuss this anymore?
It would be heart wrenching what they went through. But at least she’s not dead. Surely there’s some comfort knowing that she is lovingly adored where she is. And in the year 2026, the reality is that Carly 100% has access to make contact with C&T and has chosen not to thus far.
They need to leave her alone until/if she’s ready.
Even people that felt sorry for them can’t stand them anymore and it’s their own damn fault.
Stop harassing Carly and her parents and RAISE THE 3 DAUGHTERS YOU DIDN’T GIVE UP. That’s it.
Ffs they seriously need a restraining order at this point
“I’m not going to talk about Carly anymore publicly out of respect for her”
“We’ve made the decision not to bring up Carly on our social media”
Said by both Tyler & Cate more times in more ways than I can count. What they are showing Carly right now is that they are liars that obviously don’t respect her privacy and can’t be trusted. Not to mention that shitty things they have said about Carly’s parents. Why in any world would she ever want anything to do with them? They’ve managed to screw themselves. If they hadn’t been acting like stalking psychos that can’t keep their mouths shut Brandon and Teresa would never have cut contact with Carly but they just can’t help themselves. How about they STFU and go take care of their 3 not Carly’s that are in their house that they should be focusing on.
They just don’t understand how adoption works, or at least how theirs was supposed to work. It is probably way more upsetting knowing how their life turned out after being on this show. There was no way of knowing that they would come into money and be able to provide a life for that daughter. They are cookoo but I am sure better than a lot of parents out there who have their children. Mentally it must be hard but their actions regarding Carly have been crazy. I couldn’t imagine but they cannot get her back. I only think Carly will eventually come to them to catchup because of her blood sisters. Otherwise she is probably really embarrassed of her bio parents.
This is definitely why they have such issues with the “what if’s;” however, they are too immature and narrow-minded to realize that even WITH their money, they would not have provided Carly with the type of opportunities in life that she has had with B & T. Just keeping Carly away from the toxic family dynamics she would’ve been exposed to for the last 16 years has dramatically improved her overall existence. They should be grateful that Carly didn’t have to be around the drugs and violence like they did.
Catelynn and Tyler have achieved nothing in life and they need to stop blaming Brandon and Teresa, and start looking in the mirror. Nothing can get better until they do the actual work it will take to get to a healthy place regarding their grief. Taking ketamine and eating themselves to death aren’t doing a thing except making it worse.
I blame Carly’s step parents Brandon and Teresa almost as much as Tyler/Cate. They have not done enough to go after Tyler/Cate. They should of been throwing whatever court orders they could against Tyler/Cate. Instead, they remain passive and expect that Tyler/Cate will stop talking about Carly. They look at Carly as their next possible “meal ticket”. Thing are only going to get worse while Carly approaches her 18yr birthday. Tyler/Cate will be the last Teen Mom folks to EVER get a real job.
I think Amber will probably be last
Absolutely disgusting to call the ones who raised her, and raised her WELL, “step parents.” You don’t have to birth a child to be their parent. B&T didn’t birth Carly but they are her ONLY parents. C&T did and they have NEVER been her parents. It’s very easy to comprehend. They stepped in and saved an innocent little girl from what was sure to be a rough life. They did an amazing thing, they loved and raised a child they didn’t birth, and they gave her a good life. Anyone who sees Carly’s REAL PARENTS as the bad people in this storyline have serious issues and should seek professional help. C&T are just as broken today as they were the day Carly rode off with her parents.
C&T obviously project their trauma and their anger onto B&T. Their true anger and pain stems from the parents they had, who gave them 16 years of trauma and an unstable life leading up to their teen pregnancy. B&T saved their baby an instead of being grateful and letting Carly be happy, they use their infamy to project an entire lifetime of their own trauma and pain, caused by their own parents, onto a nice couple who did exactly what they asked them to do, which was give Carly a better future.
💯
@stan ~ um, brandon and teresa aren’t carly’s step parents. 🙄🙄
they are her PARENTS, period.
I don’t understand why you are blaming the adoptive parents along with the bio parents. It seems to me, the adoptive parents have given Carly a stable and loving life and tried not to get the courts overly involved. Tyler and Cate are going to keep on doing what they do no matter what a court order will be. They are that immature. Look at Cate’s arm full of tattoos which must have cost a small fortune. Rather than concentrate on the 3 daughters they have they continue to rant and rave over a decision they made 17 plus years ago. Whether Carly chooses to contact them once she is an adult is up to her, not Tyler and Cate. Brandon and Teresa have done nothing but love Carly and given her the best possible life. There is no need to lump them in with Tyler and Cate.
You can’t just file court orders to make people shut up online, unfortunately.
I completely understand that it’s hard and you can’t just forget about your first born child and they were so young, I get it. But I cannot even begin to imagine how unwanted the rest of thee daughters must feel if all they ever do is pour over Carly. It’s rough, but you have thee other beautiful blessings to focus on. Give them the love and attention. It’s sad.
This. This right here.
But not talking about it anymore wouldn’t get them paid 🙁
🎯
It’s a pity this wasn’t a closed adoption.
Shut the hell up already!
C and T are their own worst enemies. No ONE wants to hear this shit anymore, especially Carly. !!