Teen Mom Impersonated By Her Mother

Catelynn Lowell and her fiancé Tyler Baltierra were as shocked as the rest of the world when the cover of In Touch magazine this month displayed a photo of them smiling together and the large headline reading, “Teen Mom’s Catelynn: I’m pregnant!”

The Teen Mom franchise has showcased some pretty disappointing teens (Amber Portwood and Janelle Evans to name the most obvious), but Catelynn and Tyler have remained fan favorites since they appeared in the original series, 16 and Pregnant, in 2009. Catelynn and Tyler overcame some of the biggest challenges, including their convoluted home lives, and arguably have made the most mature decisions out of all of the showcased couples. Knowing that only makes it more disappointing to learn what has happened to them most recently.

“I want to set the record straight. I’m not pregnant,” Catelynn has clarified to In Touch. “My mom lied.”

Catelynn’s mother (her mother!), April Baltierra,went to elaborate lengths to lie to the celebrity gossip magazine about her daughter being pregnant again just to get the money for a fake phone interview.

In early June, April contacted In Touch to report that her daughter was pregnant again. April supplied a “friend of the family” to confirm the pregnancy in an interview and sent the magazine documentation of the pregnancy from a local doctor, claiming she got it from Catelynn.

The magazine then believed they were conducting a phone interview with Catelynn herself, as the female voice identified herself as the Teen Mom star and called from a phone with Tyler’s voicemail on it.

A private investigator who was later hired to straighten out the confusion has since indentified “with beyond a reasonable degree of professional certainty” that the voice of the interview subject “is the voice of the mother.”

It’s hard to imagine how Catelynn must feel, being betrayed by the woman she only wants to love her and treat her well. Her public reaction to what her mother has done to her is unbelievably forgiving: “I love my mom, but it’s frustrating,” says the college student. “It crosses the line.”

That is a huge understatement. It’s amazing that Catelynn doesn’t hate her mother and want to break off all ties at this point. Downplaying her mother’s despicable action to a word as simple as “frustrating” doesn’t seem like an appropriate reaction.

Catelynn explained that the “friend of the family” is Jamie Pyrzewski, a friend of her mother’s whom Catelynn barely knows. Jamie goes by another last name as well, and is responsible for telling In Touch that  Catelynn was “beyond bliss” about the supposed pregnancy and “couldn’t wait to hear [the baby’s] heartbeat.”

“I used to see her once in a while when we were kids,” Catelynn said of Jamie. “I don’t even like her.”

“We feel violated,” Tyler added, showing a bit more of the expected anger. “I’m shocked that she would go to this length."

April had tried to protect her scheme by asking In Touch not to contact Catelynn again after the interview because the stress might cause her to miscarry. However, once she was exposed as a fraud anyway, April began insisting that Catelynn knew about the interview all along. “Catelynn was fully aware of the story,” April said. “She knew all about this.”

As Catelynn came forward share the truth with In Touch and her fans, she also offered an apology. She said she is “absolutely sorry” for all the lies her mother told and for the confusion and worry it caused.

Catelynn and Tyler continue to be unbreakable, using the experience to strengthen their relationship and commitment to one another. “You either grow together or you grow apart,” says Tyler. “We’ve grown together.”

Catelynn and Tyler first captured viewers’ hearts when they were portrayed on 16 & Pregnant as a very young couple who made the extremely difficult decision to go through with their pregnancy and give their child up for adoption. As teenagers from broken homes, Catelynn and Tyler recognized that they didn’t have the means to provide properly for a baby, and they felt letting their child grow up in a household with loving parents who could afford to raise the child without struggling would be the best option for the unborn baby. Wow. Tell me that doesn’t impress you.

Catelynn gave birth to a little girl, whom she named Carolynn "Carly" Elizabeth. Catelynn and Tyler had handpicked Carly’s adoptive parents, who were at the hospital during the birth and took Carly home with them. The adoption has been a semi-open adoption, where Catelynn and Tyler have received some pictures and updates on Carly, as well as gotten to see her in a person a handful of times.

Catelynn and Tyler are currently living together with Catelynn’s father, brother, and five dogs.