Catelynn Lowell is putting a pause on her relationship with her biological daughter Carly.
The 32-year-old “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” star recently sat down with her adoption counselor, Dawn, to discuss her complicated relationship with Carly — who she placed for adoption 15 years ago.
The conversation was centered around Carly’s adoptive parents blocking Lowell’s phone number and telling her to “quit sending gifts because it was inappropriate and uncalled for,” per E! News.
Lowell had originally entered an open adoption, but is now claiming that Carly’s adoptive parents, Teresa and Brandon Davis, “definitely have 100 percent closed the adoption.”
“Could it be that if their opinion is different than yours and they’ve asked for space and they’ve asked for things to chill and it hasn’t happened, then is it the only alternative that they can see?” Dawn asked on the Feb. 6 episode of the show.
Lowell explained that she and her husband, Tyler Baltierra, would agree to take a step back if it were to come from Carly — not her parents.
“If it’s coming out of Brandon and Teresa’s fear and stuff, whether it be insecurity or she’s getting older and they’re not wanting contact, I will not stop reaching out,” Lowell said to Dawn.
Dawn asked if it was “fair to put that kind of pressure on a young teenager” before reminding them that they’ve done everything right thus far.
“You’ve invested a lot in the relationship that Carly’s going to remember,” Dawn said.
“She can see the efforts. But, also, she’s in a really difficult position in the middle of the tug-of-war,” she continues. “Sometimes we have to take a step back.”
Lowell eventually agrees to ‘pause’ her relationship with Carly
Lowell initially feared that a “step back” might turn permanent if they “just stay silent and don’t reach out.”
“I’m like, ‘Have you guys ever put yourself in my shoes of what it is like?’” Lowell said of Teresa and Brandon Davis.
“You’ve never had to give a child to somebody and live with that for the rest of your life. You know what I mean? It’s just not fair,” she added.
After Dawn reminded the couple that life usually isn’t fair, she offered a simple solution.
“Just a pause,” she said. “Not forever. Just for a time. Just allow yourself to take a pause. We don’t know what tomorrow brings.”
The couple then agreed to “take a pause,” with Baltierra adding that he’ll pause “until initiation happens not from me.”
Lowell and Baltierra were still boyfriend and girlfriend when they welcomed Carly, who was named by her adoptive parents, in 2009.
The couple tied the knot in 2015 and started raising a family later that year with the birth of their daughter Novalee Reign, followed by daughters Vaeda Luma in 2019 and Rya Rose in 2021.
In a recent interview with E! News, Lowell explained that she wants what Carly wants.
“Whether she just wants a relationship with her biological siblings, if she wants to have a relationship with us, awesome. If she doesn’t, totally understand,” Lowell said.
“Whatever that looks like for her. Because it needs to be adoptee-centered,” she continued.
Lowell also explained that she’s “very open” about her story with her three daughters — who live in a home filled with photos of Carly, despite never seeing her.
“But I do think that it is hard when they ask questions like, ‘Why aren’t we seeing her?’ Because that, in turn, affects them too,” she added.
