Ashley Salazar, who appeared on Season 2 of 16 & Pregnant in 2010, is giving fans an update on where her relationship with biological daughter Callie stands day, nearly 16 years after viewers watched her choose adoption on the show.
As longtime fans of “16 & Pregnant” may remember, Ashley was the second teen from the franchise to place her child for adoption, with Season 1 stars Catelynn Lowell and now-husband Tyler Baltierra being the first to do so. During a recent interview on Catelynn and Tyler’s podcast, Cate & Ty Break It Down, Ashley told the couple she remembered watching their story unfold on Season 1 of the series, shortly after she found out she was pregnant at the age of 17.
“ … I was like, oh my gosh, like, this is such perfect timing because back then, I mean, I’m sure y’all remember, it was just, like, such a taboo subject,” Ashley told the Teen Mom stars, who placed their biological daughter Carly for adoption after her birth in 2009.
While Catelynn and Tyler’s adoption journey was one that she could relate to in many ways, Ashley didn’t go through an adoption agency as Cate and Tyler did. Instead, she placed her daughter with her aunt and uncle, who had children of their own at the time and “always wanted more, but couldn’t.” Ashley noted that she had always been close to her aunt and uncle and even recalled wishing when she was younger that she had parents like them, as they “seemed like such a stable household.”
Despite being close to the family she was placing Callie with, Ashley revealed to Catelynn and Tyler– who were cut off by Carly’s parents, Brandon and Teresa Davis, in 2024– that there were still boundaries she struggled to adhere to after giving birth.
“At the beginning, I think it was hard,” she explained. “ … I think because we were always so close, we never went through talking about boundaries or counseling, like, what this would look like in the future setting. And so it was, like, after I had her, it was really hard to kind of respect those boundaries.”
Ashley noted that these challenges contributed to her deciding to get Callie back from her aunt and uncle at one point, though only for a month, as her biological daughter “ended up being placed with [her aunt and uncle] ultimately.”
“After that, I tried to go back,” Ashley revealed on the podcast this week. “I haven’t really talked about this, but I tried to go back and get her again and be like, ‘You know what? I did make a mistake.’ I think that that would have not been right had I done that [and] if they allowed that. I think that they did the right thing in holding boundaries there.”
Looking back on the situation, Ashley said she realizes now that counseling would have been beneficial for herself, as well as for her aunt and uncle, while admitting that she wasn’t respectful of the boundaries they were trying to put in place.
“ … I feel like because I kept pushing and pushing and pushing and wasn’t respecting that space, it probably frustrated them a little bit,” Ashley recalled. “Then I got offended that they were frustrated. So I was mad. I stayed super-mad for a while. Also, I think that, again, because we were close, we didn’t really think that I needed counseling or anything like that. So, I didn’t really go through that. Neither did they. I think they probably needed counseling, too.”
While it’s been many years since Callie was placed with her adoptive parents, Ashley admits she still feels “a little jealous” at times, particularly when she hears Callie refer to Ashley’s cousin as her sister.
“ … it frustrates me, even though I know that’s good for [Callie] that they’ve totally accepted her as family,” she said. “I mean, of course they have.”
Ashley placing her biological daughter with family members isn’t the only way in which her adoption story differs from that of Catelynn and Tyler’s, as she shared this week that Callie visits her and stays with her for extended periods of time and they regularly communicate, something she calls “a blessing.”
“We text, like, we were just texting,” she told Catelynn and Tyler. “She just started a new job. Her first day was yesterday. So she tells me a lot and talks to me about a lot of things that she’s going through and things like that– boys, you know, whatever. I’m like, ‘You better watch out, girl.’”
Ashley also revealed that her nine-year-old son Phoenix also has a good relationship with Callie. (Phoenix and Callie share the same father, Justin Lane, whom Ashley is no longer in a relationship with.) Still, she noted that her son does get “really sad” at times about the fact that Callie doesn’t live with them, leading him to ask questions about the adoption, which Ashley said she answers “fully.”
The mom of two also credits her aunt and uncle for getting Callie into counseling “from the beginning,” which she believes “was very wise.”
As for the future, Ashley said she hopes if Callie chooses one day to move closer to her– as they currently live eight hours apart– that Callie would feel “comfortable enough” to spend time at her home.
“I want to create a space for her, like, get a bigger place, work super-hard, get a bigger place and have a place for her that she can come over and, you know, just be with us if she wants to and make her home or be around family … ,” Ashley said, adding that she’s not just working to make a better life for herself and her son, she’s working for Callie, too.
“ … [I] want to be able to take her to do things … and I want to be able to do stuff for her and do more … ,” she continued. “So yeah, that’s what I hope for. And that me, my son and her can just … whatever she’s comfortable with, I would be, like, all for.”
Watch a clip of Ashley’s interview with Catelynn and Tyler below.
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(Photos: MTV; Instagram)
5 Responses
Cate and Ty on their podcast stated ” there were you, me and 1 other girl that choose adoption” YOU ARE DOING A PODCAST why would you not do your research and tell the other girls name. It’s LORI.
Not defending Cate & Ty because they more than likely don’t do any research whatsoever however, given what Lori was arrested for, they might not have named her intentionally.
I see the same stalled growth as C&T in this girl.
I remember her and Justin and the aunt and the constant back and forth she was doing about the baby.
She has a lot of “pie in the sky” dreams that C&T have. The bigger place, the activities.. what the hell has she been doing since 2010?? Chasing that Justin around??
She says “everything’s great”, then explains that she doesn’t know if the child would be comfortable with her?
Weird.
Very tough situation and wish her the best
I lived in the same town as her when she filmed her episode. I’m glad she has as happy of an ending as you can expect in this situation