How Catelynn Lowell Really Feels About Being Known as ‘Teen Mom’ at Age 29

Catelynn Lowell may be almost 30, but she’s made peace with the fact that she’ll forever be known as a “teen mom.” The Teen Mom OG star, 29, talked about growing up in the MTV franchise in a recent interview with Entertainment Tonight, saying that while she would reconsider being on the reality TV show if it began to bring inauthentic drama to the table, “as long as it’s still doing good for people, I will continue to do it.

Despite the fact that she’s now almost double the age she was when she first appeared on 16 and Pregnant and a mother to daughters Nova, 6, and Vaeda, 2, with another baby on the way, Lowell said she recognizes that there “will always be a stigma” to being a “teen mom.” She added, “It’s funny, I’ve joked with the higher up execs [at MTV] where I’m like, ‘Can’t we just change the name? We’re not teens anymore.’ …They’re just like, ‘Oh that’s how people know us though.’” Rebranding at this point, she said, would be like “Lady Gaga changing her name.”

Looking back at everything she’s filmed through, whether it be placing daughter Carly for adoption when she was just a teenager or deciding to seek mental health treatment after her first miscarriage, Lowell said the “hardest thing” to watch back was the impact of her seeking treatment away from her husband and kids. “Watching how it affected Nova and my husband and my family, that was super hard,” she admitted.

Having these difficult moments on tape can be valuable as well. Lowell said that if Carly has questions about her adoption when she’s much older, she can simply show her the episode of 16 and Pregnant that followed the whole process. “I don’t even have to say too much, we can watch it and I can answer questions that she has,” she explained. “Because it was so 100% real.” It’s because that footage is so raw that Lowell shared she only watched the episode in full the first time it aired live.

Lowell and Baltierra announced in February they were expecting another baby following a heartbreaking pregnancy loss in November. “This rainbow was worth the storm. Baby Baltierra coming soon,” Lowell captioned the announcement at the time, sharing just weeks later that she and Baltierra were pretty sure they had already figured out the name for “baby Z,” who will be a little girl. Teen Mom OG airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.