Catelynn Lowell isn't your average Teen Mom.
When she first appeared on 16 and Pregnant all the way back in 2009, the reality star along with Tyler Baltierra took a different path when they found out they were expecting their first child together. Despite apprehension from some family members, the couple chose to place their daughter, Carly, for adoption.
Since then, the pair has continued to document the highs and lows of their lives including marriage, pregnancy loss, mental health struggles and the births of two additional children.
As a new season kicks off Tuesday, Jan. 26, Catelynn is happy to say she's still in touch with Carly, now 11. And to this day, she's proud of the difficult decision she made.
"I think sometimes we think about how weird it would be to have an 11 year old right now," Catelynn exclusively shared with E! News. "That would be crazy. We know that we made the right decision. We don't ever second-guess that decision at all."
The Conquering Chaos author added, "Honestly, we both really do agree that if we would have parented her at the age of 17—with everything that we went through as fiancés, as boyfriend and girlfriend, as married people together—we don't really think honestly that we would be together. If you throw a child in the mix, mental health stuff, addiction stuff, relationship stuff, it makes it 20 times harder so we never regret that decision at all because we just look at what she has now and we know we did the right thing."
While much of Carly's life today with her adoptive parents Brandon and Teresa Davis is private, Catelynn revealed that they have all stayed in touch during quarantine. In fact, Catelynn's 6-year-old daughter Nova recently Facetimed with Carly.
As she explained to E! News, "We still have a relationship. I still text her mom to get updates. It's been good."
And throughout her personal journey, Catelynn has continued to stay motivated and is proud to share her life with the public because of strangers who open up about their own struggles.
"The best thing is seeing children who have been adopted tell you, ‘From watching your 16 and Pregnant and your journey with adoption, you really taught me that my birth parents really loved me and for a long time, I felt like I wasn't loved or they didn't care,'" she recalled. "I think that's the most rewarding thing because, wow, you're even teaching children that have been adopted that their birth parents did love them. They made a very hard decision for them. I think that's really amazing."
As a new season kicks off with Amber Portwood, Cheyenne Floyd, Maci Bookout McKinney and Mackenzie McKee, Catelynn describes her relationship with Tyler as "really strong."
And although life isn't always easy—Catelynn recently experienced her second pregnancy loss—the reality star knows it's important to share the ups and down of her reality.
"When it comes to mental health stuff, miscarriage stuff, I feel like I'm always open and honest about it even if it's hard to do it just because it makes people realize that they are not alone and somebody else has gone through it," she explained. "I think that's really important for us as humans to see that and in a way, it helps me too when I get fans reaching out to me saying, ‘Oh my gosh. That has happened to me too and now I have four beautiful children.' I can help people realize they're not alone and then I can realize I'm not alone too."
Teen Mom OG airs Tuesday nights at 8 p.m. on MTV.