Tyler Baltierra is detailing one of his most important life decisions.
While discussing his inconsistent relationship with his own father, Butch Baltierra, the Teen Mom: The Next Chapter star reflected on why he and wife Catelynn Lowell decided to place their now-15-year-old daughter Carly in adoptive care after her 2009 birth.
In the Feb. 20 episode of Teen Mom, Tyler—who also shares daughters Novalee, 9, Vaeda, 5, and Rya, 3 with Catelynn—gave insight into the difficult decision saying, “With just not having my dad around, it has a lot to do with why I even placed Carly in the first place.”
He added, “I was just so scared to screw it up.”
But now, Tyler noted, he and Catelynn—who tied the knot in 2015—feel whole enough to parent their three younger children.
“I think that was a catalyst for me and Cate,” he explained, “wanting to heal ourselves before we brought more kids into the world.”
There’s no doubt Tyler was affected by his father’s struggles with addiction and absence from his life—during the Feb. 20 episode, Tyler revealed he hadn’t seen Butch in five years—but he’s come to have more empathy for him now that he’s a parent.
