'Teen Mom' Stars Honor Newborn With Tattoos. Would You Do the Same?
Photo by Catelynnmtv/Instagram/Four 13 Photography
Some new parents get signs of their children’s names for the nursery, while others get signature necklaces. Teen Mom stars Catelyn Lowell and Tyler Baltierra got tattoos in honor of the daughter they welcomed on Jan. 1.
Photo by Catelynnmtv/Tylerbaltierramtv/Instagram
“Novalees little foot,” writes Lowell on Instagram, captioning a photo posted on Monday of a newborn foot inked onto the top of her own foot. The next day, Baltierra posted the tattoo that he got to celebrate the six-week-old: a sleeve depicting her name in the style of the Batman logo, complete with an action shot of the superhero. “This representation that I will always protect her is PERFECT!” writes the proud dad.
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Such elaborate odes to baby aren’t standard practice by most parents — yet — but getting inked in general is rising in popularity, according to recent polls about body art. A 2014 survey of 1,000 people by Fox News found that 20 percent of respondents had at least one tattoo, up from 13 percent in 2007. And an NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey last May revealed even higher numbers: that 40 percent of respondents said someone in their household had a tattoo.
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Are celebrities leading the trend? Tattoo fan Angelina Jolie sports characters inspired by her children, including coordinates drawn on her upper arm that reportedly display the location of each kid’s place of birth. And Julia Roberts has the names of each of her kiddos emblazoned on her lower back.
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Nevertheless, an unofficial poll of moms by Yahoo Parenting reveals that the idea of tattoos honoring children is one that many still have a hard time wrapping their heads around. “Why isn’t a necklace with your kid’s initials good enough any more?” asks New York City mother Ericka P. Boston mother Chris T. tells Yahoo Parenting, “I get it,” but that the trend just isn’t for her because she’s not a tattoo person. Another Boston-area mother Liz M. says she’s against kid-inspired tats, for a different reason. “If the idea is to permanently honor one’s child with a visible mark on their body, I’ve got multiple scars I see every day that honor my hard work and sacrifice to bear my two healthy kids.” San Francisco mom Wendy L. opts out as well, insisting that her two children are already marked — on her heart. “And I don’t need a tattoo to remind me of them.” What do you think? Tell us in the comments section.
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