- 2 days ago
00:00 - Introduction
01:36 - Charlotte & Tandem Breastfeeding
09:08 - Brooke & Lasering Her Baby
16:23 - Sara & Spicy Content Creation
24:26 - Alex & Being A Disabled Mom
32:42 - Leah & Waxing Her 3-Year-Old
40:07 - Cici & Breastfeeding With HIV
01:36 - Charlotte & Tandem Breastfeeding
09:08 - Brooke & Lasering Her Baby
16:23 - Sara & Spicy Content Creation
24:26 - Alex & Being A Disabled Mom
32:42 - Leah & Waxing Her 3-Year-Old
40:07 - Cici & Breastfeeding With HIV
Category
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FunTranscript
00:00I tandem breastfeed my five and two-year-old.
00:02My dream is to let my children decide when to stop.
00:06We get hate because we lasered our baby's face.
00:09He had his first laser treatment when he was five months old.
00:12We get judged for what I do for a living.
00:14It was my idea to start creating adult content.
00:17Trolls say I am not fit to be a parent because I am disabled.
00:21I've been called a bad mom for waxing my three-year-old,
00:24but I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.
00:26I've been called selfish for breastfeeding while living with each other.
00:30There is a lot of negativity surrounding breastfeeding.
00:34Feeding my children is going to turn them into serial killers.
00:38One person told me to put my child down.
00:40That we were horrible people, we shouldn't have kids.
00:44That hurt a little bit.
00:46I'm a bad mom, or my husband has to deal with so much.
00:51People have even gone as far to make calls through child protective services.
00:54The viral video of me waxing bliss.
00:58It got crazy.
01:00Calling me a horrible mother.
01:01Calling me their first bully.
01:03You're a horrible person for taking at risk.
01:07How do you feel about Charlotte's recipe?
01:09Have you regretted your decision to get there for a case that you've got such a young age?
01:16Do your children know what you do for your living?
01:18How do you explain it?
01:20Why do you continue to post on social media despite this kind of comment?
01:25One, two, three.
01:26How do you feel about Leah deciding to wax your daughter?
01:29I made a decision to breastfeed Zuri.
01:32How do they make you feel?
01:36My name is Charlotte, and I tandem breastfeed my five- and two-year-old.
01:40You want to break it?
01:42Can I do another one?
01:44You sure can.
01:44We can control whether or not we have positive or negative thoughts.
01:48Right?
01:48I am a certified health and wellness coach.
01:51How many times you smile today, you can control that.
01:54Give it a good whack.
01:55There you go.
01:56You want to crack one, buddy?
01:57I need a pulse.
01:59Help.
02:00My oldest is Racium, and my youngest is Malachi.
02:04Let's keep it in there.
02:06Peace.
02:07Oh, no.
02:08In a cup?
02:09No, no.
02:12How old are you?
02:14I'm five.
02:15Malachi is two.
02:17I love you so much.
02:19I love you, too.
02:20Who's better at cooking?
02:22Me.
02:22Is it mommy or daddy?
02:25Um...
02:26Are you still?
02:28Yeah.
02:29Tell me about a typical morning in the home.
02:32Well, a typical morning for us is we let our bodies wake us up.
02:36We're blessed to work from home.
02:38We don't have alarms, which is a beautiful thing.
02:41Daddy, vegetables go to numbers.
02:44We can adjust our times to be able to sleep in, so we both sleep with our kids and we
02:49wake
02:50up around the same time.
02:51A typical morning starts off nursing together, getting breast milk, and then going to the kitchen
02:57to cook.
02:58Okay.
02:59Are you ready?
03:00Okay.
03:01Slow mornings are our favorite.
03:03I always knew that I wanted to breastfeed.
03:06My experience with breastfeeding my daughter was not the easiest.
03:10She had something called torticollis, which is the shortening of the muscle in your neck.
03:14We struggled a lot, and we overcame that together.
03:18Oh!
03:19Oh no!
03:20After the first four months, I was doing really well, and then just kept going from there.
03:24This child does not sleep, therefore mama doesn't sleep.
03:27How did you decide to do extended breastfeeding?
03:30I had this dream of doing full-term breastfeeding where she would stop when she's ready, and I
03:35know that if the time comes where I'm ready, then we'll, of course, adjust accordingly.
03:42I really wanted another child, and as soon as I heard that it was possible to breastfeed
03:46during pregnancy and even tandem breastfeed afterwards, it's just like something clicked.
03:51I loved it during pregnancy because I didn't have to chase a toddler around.
03:55Tandem breastfeeding is when you breastfeed multiple children, generally two.
03:59In my case, my kids are three years apart.
04:02You can either breastfeed them together at the same time or one at a time.
04:05My decision to tandem breastfeed was totally a god moment because it was placed on my mind
04:10and my heart that that's something that I would be doing.
04:12I started tandem breastfeeding the day that I gave birth to my son.
04:16I knew that I wanted to try and to achieve a few months of it at least.
04:20This is like a guaranteed rest every day for a mom.
04:25There's another benefit.
04:27I would love to make it more well-known that the benefits of breastfeeding don't stop at
04:32six months or at one year or at two years.
04:34Mom, watch this!
04:37There's nutritional benefits.
04:39There's behavioral benefits, emotional, social, and cognitive.
04:44I don't believe our kids get as sick as other kids do.
04:48I think they have a closer bond because of our decision to tandem breastfeed.
04:54You know, they sit still for a while and stare at each other in the face.
04:57At the beginning, they would hold hands while they tandem breastfed.
05:00Man, that's a heartwarming moment for a mother.
05:02My dream is to let my children decide when to stop.
05:05At one point, I thought maybe he would wean before she did, which would have been kind
05:10of wild.
05:10But I also know that when either party is ready, there needs to become a mutual understanding
05:15and agreement.
05:16But it doesn't look like there's any stopping anytime soon.
05:24The current parenting style that I identify with most is secure attachment parenting.
05:29Can you hold it up?
05:30Hold it up.
05:31There you go.
05:33Can I hold that?
05:35Watch this!
05:36You respond to the needs of the child.
05:39I see green and green and green and more glory.
05:44But you also give them space to explore.
05:47Am I the umbrella holder?
05:48Yeah.
05:49Do I look like an umbrella holder?
05:50Yeah.
05:50It aligns with my motherly instincts.
05:55It's a balance that maybe not everyone understands or agrees with, but it works for me.
06:01How do you feel about Charlotte's breastfeeding?
06:03I find that it works really, really well, in fact.
06:05I trust her judgment.
06:08I think there's hardships with everything, but parenting is being there for our kids.
06:13I started sharing my breastfeeding journey online because there was just a lack of support
06:18and a lack of community out there for breastfeeding moms.
06:20Not that I could find at the time.
06:22And I also wanted some support as my daughter had such struggles latching.
06:27The majority of my comments and encouragement that I receive is positivity, but for every positive
06:33person, there seems to be a negative person.
06:36Not quite a ratio of 50-50, but there is a lot of negativity.
06:40Why do you still let your kids breastfeed at their age?
06:43It just seems unhealthy.
06:45Your kids will be too dependent.
06:47Oh.
06:48If you look up secure attachment, there's a reason why we do what we do.
06:52If the kids know that their needs are met, you get a sexual pleasure from it and justify
06:58it with parenting.
06:59That's, wow, that's so sad.
07:02She's doing it for her benefit and not the kids, and that's absurd because they don't
07:07have the understanding or knowledge.
07:08Why should we so feed them until they're ready for marriage?
07:13I can't even, I have nothing to say to that.
07:15There's been comments where people say, just give her a sippy cup.
07:20And I would say, are you coming over to wash the sippy cup?
07:25Because this is a lot easier than washing dishes and bottles.
07:29A gal said, what's going to happen when these children grow up and they look back and see
07:33these images that you've shared on your social media?
07:36You know, what are they going to think?
07:38And I said, well, they're going to be empowered.
07:44That's truly how I feel about that.
07:45I haven't had anybody come up to me and try to scold me, but just some looks here and there.
07:52More shock than disgust.
07:57And then I get comments like, you are an amazing mom.
07:59I think it's a wonderful bond you have with your kids.
08:01You're doing a great job, mama.
08:05Oh yeah, look at mama go.
08:07And if I can help just one person, then that's enough for me.
08:14I continue to share my journey because it's ever-changing.
08:17I want to knock it over.
08:19And I went from feeding just one to two.
08:22And it's probably the most important and beautiful thing I've done to date.
08:27I want to continue my journey.
08:28So if a mom wants to continue to breastfeed, I hope that my journey inspires them to do so.
08:33Look, how about that?
08:35So you're going to knock it down?
08:37I've never known a high school kid to still be breastfeeding or a college kid.
08:42So one day my children will stop breastfeeding and maybe go on to have children and a family of their
08:48own.
08:48I hope that they can look back on what mom did and be inspired and proud as she shared her
08:54journey with integrity.
08:55And love to support other moms.
08:57Two, three, three, go!
09:07We love going to the beach, especially during summer on the weekends.
09:13We love going on long drives.
09:16We like to go away, take the kids to theme parks.
09:20My name is Brooke.
09:21I am 34 years old.
09:23I'm Kilini Wallace.
09:25I'm 28 years old.
09:26We've been together for almost five years and we have two babies together.
09:32Our daughter is Armani and she's three and our son is Kingsley and he is 16 months old.
09:39Armani's the most energetic out of the two.
09:41Definitely, yeah.
09:42Kingsley's coming up, like he's slowly getting there, but he can't walk yet.
09:46So Armani's definitely the more hyperactive one.
09:50We're a good team.
09:51Yeah, he thinks he's the boss.
09:52He knows who the boss is, but you know, we're a good team.
09:58Oh, where are you going?
10:01Hey, hey.
10:02No.
10:04My pregnancy with Kingsley was even better than my pregnancy with Armani.
10:08There was nothing to alert us that anything was wrong.
10:12It was smooth sailing right up until we had him.
10:16If you want to sit up, you can.
10:18Mummy's just got to put this on.
10:20Ready?
10:21Wow.
10:23Instantly, the moment he was born, they knew it was a birthmark, but we didn't know what
10:30type yet.
10:31And then we got the confirmation that day that it was a port one stained birthmark.
10:36And then obviously later on, we found out about the Sturge Weber syndrome.
10:42When we started Googling, that's when I started getting concerned because of the type of birthmark
10:46it was and the pictures that are in Google Images scared the hell out of us.
10:54So it would affect his eyesight.
10:57It could be linked to Sturge Weber syndrome, which then would be neurological issues.
11:06There's also the complications in the future with the port one stained birthmark itself,
11:12where it can develop growths, vascular blebs, where it can bleed out and the face becomes
11:18disportioned.
11:19Yeah, there was quite a few issues.
11:20He had his first laser treatment when he was five months old.
11:24It was probably one of the most difficult decisions I've ever had to make.
11:28Were you scared when Kingsley went through his laser treatment?
11:31Absolutely scared.
11:32I was, as a parent, like, it was one of the hardest things that I've ever had to, to kind
11:41of go into.
11:42I couldn't stay in the room.
11:43I actually left the room, whereas Dad was in there with him.
11:46But everything in me just broke.
11:49Did Kingsley need to have laser surgery?
11:52There are a lot of parents that choose not to.
11:55A lot of people think we're going to give, like, let our child make that decision when
11:59they're older.
12:00Have you ever regretted your decision to get treatment for Kingsley at such a young age?
12:09During.
12:10During the process, yeah.
12:13We had moments when he was crying and that, like, we were like, we don't want to do this
12:17again.
12:18And, like, by the fourth one, it was kind of like, do we go again or not?
12:24Yeah.
12:24The whole thing was difficult.
12:26But would we regret it?
12:28Absolutely not.
12:29We didn't want to wait.
12:31We wanted to do it then and there.
12:32And then he won't remember.
12:34It'd be a lot more stressful when he's older than when he was a baby.
12:38After the laser treatment had stopped and it looked really painful.
12:42I feel like it looked worse than how he felt because he was fine afterwards.
12:47He was happy.
12:49Yeah.
12:50Are you sharing?
12:59So I was already on TikTok.
13:02So when Kingsley was born and we were really kind of taken back with everything, we had
13:07no clue what this was, I felt like I needed to put my son's story out there to spread awareness
13:15around it.
13:16You have been asking on my son's birthmark and the year of hell that we have had, if
13:21it's not a birthmark, then what is it?
13:24He has what they call Sturge-Weber syndrome.
13:28I had a lot of other parents of Port Weinstein children just come up to me and, like, message
13:33me and thank me and be like, thank you for sharing your story.
13:36This means a lot to my child.
13:38I had a lot of families say, like, this has helped me, made my decision easier.
13:43Then I had the negative side.
13:46One person told me to put my child down.
13:48Other people say, you're an abusive parent and you shouldn't be doing this to your child.
13:54That we were horrible people.
13:55We shouldn't have kids.
13:57Social welfare should come take our children.
14:00He should make the decision for himself when he's older.
14:03Yeah.
14:04There was a few hurtful comments and at the beginning it used to get to me a lot, but I
14:08chose, rather than react, to educate them.
14:11And if they don't want to be educated, to block.
14:19The other person said, thank you, thank you.
14:20Hello.
14:21How are you?
14:22Good, thank you.
14:23Our families were, they supported us to have, to decide on doing laser for him.
14:30What are you doing?
14:33Who's that?
14:33Is that Nanny?
14:34You want to go to Nanny?
14:35When I heard that Kingsley was getting laser surgery, I knew that it was for his best interest.
14:41I know his parents are doing the best they can and what's best for him.
14:46And it's when he goes to school.
14:49It's all those things.
14:51People can be pretty cruel.
14:53People don't know the real story.
14:56They only just see things written up, but they actually don't know the reasons behind it.
15:02The worst thing that we would have had said is just saying that I'm a horrible mum.
15:08We're child abusers.
15:10Just the abusive part really kind of got to me.
15:13Because we love and care for our kids.
15:17So that hurt a little bit.
15:22He's smiling.
15:25I just feel they judge people.
15:28You're always going to get that.
15:29I would have made that decision to have him have the laser treatment, without a doubt.
15:35How do you feel about the way he looks now?
15:38I feel like he's always looked great.
15:40It's still there.
15:41His birthmark is always going to be there.
15:43It's just purely to make the skin healthier.
15:47And obviously in the same time, it is going to lighten it.
15:51But he's beautiful.
15:53I love him.
15:53I love him.
15:54I think he's got this beautiful little head.
15:55Remember, people are always going to give you criticism, especially if you put it out there
15:59online.
16:00But don't take it in too much.
16:02Don't take it to heart.
16:03Make decisions based on the best choices you think are for your children.
16:08What does the future hold for you as a family?
16:09Keep spreading awareness for our son's conditions.
16:13Yeah.
16:13Just keep going up from here, I guess.
16:15And educating ourselves.
16:16And just making sure our children have the best life.
16:23Welcome to our home.
16:25We're in the process of moving.
16:26So excuse the boxes, but come on in.
16:29So while I'm packing, I found so many things that I didn't remember I had or thought I lost.
16:44I'm Sarah Blake, and I'm an adult content creator.
16:48I'm Matt Cheek, and I'm a house husband slash manager.
16:52We have four kids.
16:54Chandler is 11.
16:55Camden is 10.
16:56Corey just turned 8.
16:58And Carson is 4.
16:59We got rid of most of everything.
17:01Like all of our furniture.
17:02And we gave it away, and we're starting over.
17:08All right.
17:08I think we are almost ready for Vegas.
17:11So in our past episode, we were banned from our kids' football organization.
17:16I'm an OnlyFans model.
17:18I was banned from my kids' football games, their cheerleading games, because of what I do for a living.
17:25Once everybody knew it was free game to ban us from one thing, they started banning us from everything.
17:30It's a huge reason why we're getting out of here and going somewhere where hopefully those things don't happen.
17:38The judgment has, I think it's gotten worse because people knew they could do things to our family and it
17:45affect our kids.
17:46I started creating adult content in 2020.
17:50So now for four years.
17:52Whose idea was it to start creating adult content?
17:55It was Matt's idea.
17:56He wanted to see me naked all the time.
17:58No, I'm just kidding.
17:59It was my idea to start creating adult content.
18:02But it came from your social media fans.
18:05People asked for it, yes.
18:07Do you do this?
18:07And then so we kind of started looking into it.
18:09And she's like, are you cool with that?
18:11And I'm like, I'm down with that.
18:16I am getting ready to shoot content.
18:19So I'm doing my makeup, just touching it up.
18:21Are you doing like swimsuit stuff today or bedroom stuff or?
18:25This dress.
18:26Oh, the dress is okay.
18:28Okay.
18:29I have this one.
18:32Yeah.
18:33Yes.
18:33With jean shorts.
18:34Okay.
18:34I'm going to go put this on and I will be right back.
18:39How do you help Sarah with her content?
18:41We have like a shared app where we do our schedules and everything.
18:45I'll fill it out every day.
18:47Like, you know, work out, come home, planning time with me.
18:51As soon as she gets the messages or whatever from people requesting, whatever, she'll tell
18:55me, I'll put that in the calendar.
18:56Hey, you have to do this at this time or you have to have this done by that time.
19:01What do you think?
19:03I love it.
19:05Yay.
19:05I love it.
19:06Yeah.
19:07Okay.
19:08The texture's nice.
19:10Are you ready?
19:11Four.
19:12To get some good angles.
19:14Every day is a lesson in photo angles.
19:19Okay.
19:20Let me see.
19:21So, see, this is the hard part for me.
19:23I got to watch this and see these angles and that.
19:26Not up top right there, but below on that one.
19:29Go back around.
19:34Do you find yourself in these positions often?
19:37It keeps me, keeps me nimble, you know?
19:40Making adult content makes me feel empowered because it gives me the freedom to be a better
19:45mom, a better wife, and making content that is so in tune with your body and things of that
19:51nature.
19:52It's just powerful.
19:53Monthly, I make about 50 grand.
19:55So, despite the judgment we face, I still continue to do this work because this is what puts
20:01food on the table.
20:02And I think it's absolutely insane to think that somebody would quit their job because other
20:07people are uncomfortable with it.
20:09Normally, I'm cooking something for the kids, but since we're moving and we've got so much
20:13going on, there's not a lot of time for that today.
20:16Dishes and everything are packed up.
20:17So, we're having some pizza today.
20:19Cam, Chandler, come here, get your stuff.
20:22This is Cam, then.
20:23Carsey, we welcome here, buddy.
20:27There you go.
20:28Thank you, Daddy.
20:29Be careful.
20:31So, our roles in the household are managing chaos together.
20:35Oh, it's a monster!
20:37Get off with me!
20:39Oh, it's a monster!
20:40Get off with me!
20:41We share the household chores.
20:43I probably do the majority, but, oh gosh, she's better at it than I am.
20:51At being a house husband?
20:52At being a house person.
20:55Okay, who wants a brownie?
20:56Brownie!
20:57I just happen to be the one that has the time, so I'm kind of taking on that role.
21:04So, who's the better cook, mom or dad?
21:06I think mom.
21:09I think it's dad.
21:11You think it's dad?
21:12Sarah and Matt, do you agree with those answers?
21:15Yeah, I'd say it's probably split 50-50.
21:18Mom's spaghetti.
21:20What would it taste like?
21:21What does it taste like?
21:22A noodle with water and everything.
21:27I agree, bud.
21:29Do your children know what you do for your living?
21:31How do you explain it to them?
21:33Our children don't know exactly what we do for a living.
21:38I would say that they have an idea.
21:40We've been very secretive in that, I guess, sheltering them because we do do this for a living.
21:47We know what's out there on social media.
21:49We know how it can impact them in a negative way because of how society portrays us.
21:57So, what does your mom do for work?
22:00She's a model.
22:02What she does for work is she is a TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or X, whatever you want to call
22:08it, influencer.
22:10I don't really worry that this has negatively impacted my children because they've taken parts of my job, not the
22:18adult stuff, but my daughter helps put together outfits for TikToks for me and she'll take pictures of me.
22:24All right, guys, what are we doing on Friday?
22:27We're moving to Vegas for three days.
22:31Well, three days for the drive.
22:33Daddy has a, he's going to set up a TV in his car.
22:37Oh, we're going to have a cool car.
22:38Mommy bought books for us, she bought a cooler.
22:40Dad got a TV, mom got books.
22:45There is a huge stigma surrounding what I do for a living and it's directly targeted at the woman.
22:52There are so many men creators that don't have to deal with the things that I have to deal with
22:57as a mother, as a woman, as a wife.
22:59Me for one.
23:00Yes.
23:01We're both involved in it.
23:03Nobody treats me differently, but they treat her differently.
23:05I feel like I've been judged by this community for what I do for a living.
23:09Some examples of what people have said to us are that I'm seeking attention, that I'm a bad mom, or
23:16my husband has to deal with so much because I do this for a living.
23:20Well, what did you expect?
23:22Of course your kids are going to get picked on for you doing that.
23:24How about you teach your kid as a society, all of us, not to pick on anybody for anything.
23:30Let's not bully people.
23:31We're doing this to spend time with our kids and to be better parents, less stressed financially.
23:37We can provide for them better.
23:38We're removing ourselves from this situation and we're going to try to move somewhere where it's not such a big
23:44deal.
23:44It's not the talk of the town, you know what I mean?
23:47I hope the move to Las Vegas brings us happiness, peace, opportunity, a way to have all of our dreams
23:54come true and the kids to be more happy.
23:57Well said.
24:01I am so pumped up about this move.
24:03I am excited.
24:05I cannot wait.
24:05I'll be excited when we hit the road.
24:08I don't see any changes to my career.
24:10We just got to invest in great doctors, great surgeons.
24:14Then you won't be in the granny category.
24:15Oh yeah.
24:16Well, I could be a hot granny, hot young granny, cougar, you know.
24:22You guys can go inside.
24:24Okay.
24:25Okay.
24:26This one's cute.
24:28That one's my favorite.
24:29It's a little romper.
24:31A little romper.
24:34Our daughter's name is Ari and she's four months old.
24:37She's a preemie so she's very tiny but she has a huge personality.
24:43She is beautiful.
24:45She's beautiful.
24:46Let me give you a kiss.
24:49Noah and I have been dating for over a year now and we met on a dating app.
24:54We did not plan on being pregnant.
24:57All the way out, all three of them, say yes.
24:59It was a complete surprise.
25:01It was definitely a huge lifestyle change for us but we are enjoying every minute of it.
25:08I have a rare neuromuscular disease called spinal muscular atrophy type 2.
25:14I have a defect on one of my genes where my body isn't receiving enough protein to make my muscles
25:22kind of work.
25:24Noah is one of my main caregivers and day to day he helps me with every aspect of my care.
25:31He helps me prepare food, he helps me shower, he helps me go to bed at night, he helps me
25:37clean, he does my hair sometimes.
25:40Yeah.
25:41My pregnancy experience was one of the hardest things I have ever done but I have this little beautiful lady
25:50and it was such an amazing experience.
25:53I did have to do a few extra things because I'm disabled and pregnant.
25:59I had to go to the doctor once a week towards the end of the pregnancy just to monitor everything.
26:05We're about to have this baby.
26:09When I first saw Ari, it was one of the most amazing things in my entire life.
26:15My doctors were, Alex, we have no idea how you got up in your wheelchair hours after this C-section.
26:22That was super intense for someone with my disease and went to that NICU and saw her.
26:30When I first saw Ari, it was amazing.
26:32She was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen.
26:34It's a magical moment.
26:36Is there anything only either of you do for Ari?
26:41Noah does a lot of stuff for Ari that I don't do for her because he is physically able to,
26:48such as change her diapers, pick her up out of her crib.
26:54We do have an assistant that helps us take care of Ari and the house and me as well, Nina,
27:01and she is amazing.
27:02Thank you very, very much.
27:05You're welcome very much.
27:06Are we going to eat it for another two ounces?
27:09Are we going to eat it for another two ounces?
27:09The products that I use to ensure that I'm involved with Ari's care is this changing table right here.
27:18We have it up on the table so that my wheelchair is able to access her.
27:23And this is how I feed her.
27:25And this is how I feed her.
27:25This is how I play with her.
27:28I also use a wrap.
27:32I know, you're getting ready for a burp.
27:35Dad, we need a burp, please.
27:37Some misconceptions that people had about me being disabled and pregnant was that Ari was going to be born with
27:46a disability of some sort or that I was going to die during pregnancy.
27:51Um, there was, there was a lot of misconceptions and Ari does not have the same genetic disease as me.
28:00Ari is not disabled.
28:02We have a lot of nicknames for her.
28:04Beef Hamlet, Beefcake, Fartcake, Tootie.
28:09None that have to do with her actual name.
28:14Trolls say I am not fit to be a parent because I am disabled.
28:18The negativity kind of had its peak during my pregnancy.
28:23Since Ari has been born, it's kind of just continued to go down that path.
28:31Just negativity about us as parents and just basically anything we do with her is wrong.
28:40People have said some awful things to us since Ari has been born.
28:45Um, someone commented, I feel so bad for him because he has to take care of two people now.
28:52He looks like he is not ready.
28:55People make comments about me being a caregiver and caring for Ari as well.
28:59They basically say like, oh, you have to care for two people now, you're not going to be
29:02able to do it, it's going to be too much for you, like, oh, you've got to wipe two butts,
29:07like.
29:08How does it make you feel?
29:09Um, I don't, I don't really care.
29:12It doesn't really bother me.
29:14Someone said, when she is old enough, she has to care for you.
29:19So people assume that she's going to be my caregiver because I gave birth to a non-disabled
29:26child and that's just a very common misconception that obviously isn't true.
29:32There's no plans of like, oh, I have an able-bodied daughter.
29:36She's going to be like my caregiver.
29:38Like, no, I'm her mom, like, I'm her caregiver.
29:42These comments can be a little upsetting when it's directed towards her daughter versus like,
29:48it's not as hurtful when it's directed towards us.
29:52People have even gone as far to make calls to Child Protective Services.
29:55So it was very frustrating to have these people in my home asking me invasive questions just
30:04because I'm a disabled parent on the internet.
30:06I'm sharing our lives.
30:09It was a very hard thing to navigate with a new baby and being new parents, but we eventually
30:15got through it and obviously all the cases were unfounded.
30:18Why do you continue to post on social media?
30:22I continue to post on social media despite these comments because I am dedicated to breaking
30:31stigmas about disability and being a parent.
30:34Alex isn't going to let those hate comments bring her down.
30:36She's just going to keep going.
30:37That's going to inspire her to go even further.
30:39Originally, we were supposed to do this pineapple getup, but we decided on this one.
30:44My choice was demoted?
30:47Okay.
30:49Well, good thing that that outfit is just as cute.
30:57Perfect.
31:00Are we going to go for a little black?
31:04All righty.
31:11Hello, little missy.
31:17All right, they're runaway buggies.
31:20When we're out in the public, we don't really outwardly experience any judgment because no
31:27one's going to come up to us saying, I hate comment.
31:30You know, people don't say that stuff to your face.
31:33We're just like any other parents.
31:34We just have a different dynamic.
31:37Do you like to have more children?
31:40We do want to have more children.
31:42Yeah.
31:43We do want to have more children, definitely.
31:45I don't know if I'm going to go through with the physical pregnancy again.
31:50That was a...
31:51It could be a surrogacy.
31:52It could be an adoption, but we'll see.
31:54Yeah.
31:54We'll have another one.
31:55We want another one for sure.
31:57That's all right now.
32:00I'm just so fortunate and happy that I have the opportunity to be this gorgeous little
32:06lady's mom and that despite everything medical professionals telling me this is going to be
32:14really risky and everyone doubting me and Noah that we did it and we're just so lucky and happy to
32:25be a family.
32:27This experience has been amazing and I'm so happy I've gotten to do it with you.
32:33I'm excited for many more years with you and Ari.
32:36Me too.
32:37I'm so excited.
32:42A typical day in the Garcia house is work, the kids, and whatever it is that they got going on.
32:50School, sports, gymnastics, cheer, cleaning, cooking.
32:56It's a madhouse every single day.
32:58She claims that she does all the work and I just drive them around, but I guess I'm a professional
33:04chauffeur.
33:06My name is Leah Garcia.
33:07I am 31 and I am a realtor slash content creator.
33:11I've been married to Leonard for nine years.
33:14I have four children.
33:15I've been called a bad mom for waxing my three-year-old, but I don't think I'm doing anything wrong.
33:20I had a really good upbringing.
33:23I got teased for being hairy, so I was always pretty insecure about that.
33:28Being hairy was embarrassing.
33:30Not being able to shave or having more hair than the boys, it was just humiliating.
33:36Somebody was going to bring up how hairy I was in elementary school.
33:41I didn't need to wait until middle school to get bullied.
33:44It started at a very, very, very young age.
33:47I actually remember being even younger, like before school age, and adults would comment on how thick my eyebrows were.
33:56I wasn't supposed to be able to remove any body hair until I was 15, but I would go behind
34:02my parents' back and I would pluck my eyebrows or shave my eyebrows.
34:07The hair on my arm, I used to turn on the gas stove and I would run my arm across
34:12the fire so it would burn off my hair.
34:15So I found ways around it.
34:20I decided to wax my daughter's eyebrows because it's a quarter inch of hair and removing that would solve years
34:27of trauma.
34:28And so I removed it and I'm going to continue to remove it.
34:32I waxed Bliss for the first time when she was two.
34:37Bahati was about three or four.
34:39How do you feel about Leah deciding to wax your daughter?
34:43In the beginning, I questioned it a little bit.
34:46I kind of thought, like, why would you wax my daughter?
34:50It was a joint decision that we made together, but it took a little bit of explaining.
34:57Like, I needed to have the back story before I agreed to it.
35:01I asked Bahati if she wanted to get waxed.
35:03With Bliss, Bliss would always see me wax Bahati's eyebrows.
35:08So she asked me several times.
35:10Obviously not because she was aware that she had a unibrow, but just because she wanted to do what Big
35:14Sister does.
35:15So her unibrow was a little more pronounced than Bahati's.
35:19So I was like, I'm going to have to do it eventually anyway.
35:22I might as well do it while she's asking.
35:24Do you think it's inappropriate to wax your children at such a young age?
35:28No.
35:29If you've ever had a unibrow, you understand the hurtful comments that can come from that.
35:34And so if I can take any of that away from them and keep them from being exposed to the
35:40ugly part of that, then I will.
35:42No matter how much hate that it comes with for me.
35:46Why'd you put those on your lips? Ready?
35:49One, two, three.
35:50Ow, that humming.
35:53Ow, mom.
35:54That humming still.
35:56All right, girl, now you got two eyebrows.
35:59No more Florida's brow.
36:01I made the viral video of me waxing Bliss to bring awareness and let parents know it's okay to wax.
36:09If your children want it removed, do it.
36:12You're not hurting your child, you're actually helping them.
36:15The online response from the video, it was a mix.
36:19There was a lot of people who were on board and then there was a whole lot of people who
36:23didn't understand it and who bashed me and sent hateful, evil comments, messages, emails, death threats.
36:30Like, it got crazy.
36:32People accusing me of injecting my kids with Botox, calling me a horrible mother, calling me their first bully, just
36:41horrible things like that.
36:43I think the worst one, I got a direct message of somebody threatening to cut my head off if I
36:50didn't stop waxing her eyebrows.
36:52Because I already knew the backstory and I knew why we were doing it, I, of course, was offended, you
37:00know, got angered at a couple of the messages.
37:03I would much rather us get back for it than for somebody to say something to my daughter and me
37:10feel like I have to go up there and defend, you know, her feelings.
37:15I do not regret posting that TikTok at all.
37:18I am unapologetically myself.
37:23I do not take back anything.
37:26That's who I am.
37:27My content on my TikTok is about me just being real.
37:30I'm not going to fake it.
37:31I got my, my wax is warm.
37:35This is for sensitive skin, so it's not going to hurt them.
37:38And then I just cut out the wax strips.
37:44And then these are the sticks that I use.
37:50We're ready to go.
37:51Bliss asked me, she, um, she sees me wax her big sister all the time.
37:57She sees me get waxed all the time.
37:59So she asked me several times before I finally said yes.
38:03With Behati, I asked her if she wanted to.
38:06Turn this way.
38:07Light.
38:08My girl's unibrow grows down.
38:10So I pull in the opposite direction and go up.
38:17Okay.
38:18I waxed Sissy's eyebrows.
38:20Do you, do you want me to wax your eyebrows?
38:22Yes.
38:22Are you sure?
38:24Yeah.
38:24Give me sugars.
38:26I love you.
38:27Okay.
38:28Let's do it.
38:32One, two, three.
38:36There you go.
38:37Good job.
38:39This is all of the hair that comes off.
38:42Just a little bitty piece of hair.
38:43No big deal.
38:44No tears.
38:46Minimal pain.
38:47And no bullying.
38:48I would just like to say that I am not bullying my child.
38:54I am not forcing my children to wax their eyebrows.
38:57I am not causing pain.
38:59I am not causing insecurity.
39:01We have raised our children to know that they are beautiful and they are perfect.
39:05And removing a unibrow is no different than taking your child to get a haircut.
39:12It's no different than when you pierce your baby's ears.
39:16They don't know that you're piercing their ears.
39:18They didn't ask you to pierce their ears.
39:19They didn't say, mommy, I want earrings.
39:21They're babies.
39:22They have never shed a tear over it.
39:24I'm doing this with the purest heart because I genuinely care.
39:28And I want to protect my children.
39:30So if that makes me a bad mother, then so be it.
39:34I'm sure there's things that you do that I would disagree with.
39:38But I'll keep my opinion to myself and allow you to raise your own child.
39:44I will definitely continue to wax my daughter's eyebrows until they tell me to stop.
39:49If I had a message to the haters who disagree with my parenting style,
39:53I would say, good thing I'm not your mom.
39:56I am their mom.
39:57So their opinion is the only one that matters to me.
40:00Yay!
40:02Yay!
40:07Hey, y'all.
40:09Hey, mom.
40:11What?
40:16I am Cece, and I am a mom who is living with HIV.
40:20I have a son, Zion.
40:22He is 12 years old, and he is HIV negative.
40:26I have a partner, Duane, and we've been dating for about six years.
40:30We share a daughter, and her name is Zuri.
40:33And she's also HIV negative.
40:37Child.
40:38Zuri.
40:40Zuri.
40:41Zuri.
40:41Look, you sit right there.
40:43Mommy want to sit right here.
40:44I contracted HIV when I was about 19 years old.
40:48And it was from dealing with people in sexual relationships that I did not know their HIV status.
40:56Ew.
40:58I was 20 when I was diagnosed.
41:01When I found out that I was HIV positive, that was one of the most devastating moments of my life.
41:07Never thought that it would be me.
41:09So what do you say to somebody that's mad at me because I hid you?
41:14Even though I took the medicine, I went to the doctor, I did all of that.
41:18What do you say to them?
41:19What I would say is, don't judge.
41:23Look and go through my mom's story to actually get the full picture and see that she has actually
41:31done everything that she needed to do to make sure that me and Zuri are negative.
41:37I did not breastfeed Zion.
41:39That was not an option at all.
41:42How far in your relationship did Cece disclose to you that she was looking like Zuri?
41:45She disclosed me like almost right away.
41:48I believe if not the first time we met, maybe the second time we met.
41:52She just kept it real being she was honest and I respected that.
41:56So that's how I was able to handle it and make my decision on how like once we go forward.
42:02Good job.
42:03You fed the turtles?
42:05Yay.
42:06High five.
42:07Good job.
42:09Mommy's so proud of you.
42:11This is my medicine.
42:13It is my lifeline.
42:15It has been what has allowed me to have kids who are not living with HIV.
42:20It's what's kept me healthy for these last 15 years.
42:24It's what allows me to not be able to transmit HIV sexually to my partner.
42:29I depend on this.
42:31This medication is what makes me undetectable.
42:36Can you tell us about your decision to breastfeed Zuri?
42:39I made a decision to breastfeed Zuri.
42:42In those studies that we do have available, we've seen that the risk of transmission when
42:47the parent is on antiretrovirals, HIV medication, that the risk is less than 1% when you breastfeed.
42:56I breastfed Zuri for seven months.
43:00Aww.
43:03Hey, ma.
43:04Hey, baby.
43:05Hi, my baby.
43:06Aww.
43:08Ooh.
43:10Love you so.
43:11So when I got pregnant with Zuri, this time we are talking about breastfeeding.
43:17Something that I never thought would be possible.
43:21You know, like I didn't even get the option with Zion.
43:25Now this comes on the table.
43:27How did that make you feel?
43:31I thought it was a good deal.
43:33I really did.
43:35You know, I know that your providers had your back.
43:39And I believe what they said.
43:41So I didn't worry about that at all.
43:43I knew that that breast milk would be the best for her.
43:48Well, I worried enough for the both of us.
43:50I worried the whole nine months.
43:54I worried every time I put my breast into her mouth.
43:58I hate that you worried like that.
44:00You didn't express that when you were pregnant or when you were breastfeeding her.
44:06I thought you were okay with it, being that you were doing it.
44:11In the middle of me breastfeeding Zuri, there was a shortage of milk
44:15because there was contaminated milk floating around.
44:19And I remember the thought of, oh my goodness.
44:22My breast milk is probably the safest thing I could be doing for my baby right now.
44:27Even while living with HIV.
44:30You know, it's not sweet.
44:32What?
44:32It's the way that them people act on the internet.
44:35I know.
44:36And I wish that I could change that for you because you still have so many people that don't know.
44:41That don't have a clue of what HIV is.
44:45Even in 2023.
44:47Yes.
44:48I learned a lot from you.
44:49I think we do as a family and we thank you.
44:52Because y'all love me.
44:53Yes.
44:54And HIV is just a part of me.
44:56Yes.
44:56So I'm grateful for y'all recognizing it and still continue to love me because then it just
45:02helped me keep it going.
45:04Because y'all ain't never treated me no different.
45:06Nobody ever treated me no different.
45:09No.
45:09I'm so grateful.
45:11I love you.
45:12I love you too.
45:14I know you do.
45:16I decided to share my story online with others for the first time on December 1st, 2018.
45:22I wanted to get it out and find somebody else.
45:26I wanted to find community.
45:28And in that blog, Healing is Voluntary, it's the acronym HIV.
45:33And I was tired of it meaning human immunodeficiency virus.
45:36As a woman who is living with HIV and who is extremely open with my status and extremely
45:42proud and open with the fact that I have kids, I have received a lot of negative feedback
45:49from the people online.
45:51Why have children knowing that HIV was going to pass down to them?
45:55The kids didn't stand a chance.
45:57That comment was not true at all.
45:59Clearly on my video, this video specifically, I said that my kids were both HIV.
46:08What is like the most common piece of judgment you received?
46:11That I was selfish for having children.
46:14That I was selfish for breastfeeding one.
46:17And that feels like the opposite of what I have been feeling and experiencing.
46:23You're a horrible person for taking that risk.
46:27If you putting your child at risk, you are selfish.
46:29Go ahead and educate yourself.
46:31No baby should be at risk of contracting HIV just because of a selfish decision of a mother
46:37who clearly doesn't understand her child is first.
46:43I just gotta add something Kevin.
46:45I'm sorry.
46:46Sure, go for it.
46:46What really confuses me about this all is that we live in a country who has threatened
46:52the sexual and reproductive health rights of women period.
46:56So they say you have to keep the baby.
46:59But is that only if you're not living with HIV?
47:02Because it seems that my decision to keep my children and to raise my children and to
47:08love my children is what gets me the most hateful negative comments.
47:12So what do you want me to do?
47:15Do you want me to keep the babies?
47:17Do you want me to love the babies?
47:18Or should I throw that away because of a less than 1% chance of transmission when I end
47:24up pregnant?
47:26It's the willful ignorance that really gets me.
47:29You could try to give somebody the correct information sometimes and they still only hear
47:35what they want to.
47:36I've received so many positive responses as well.
47:40The medical providers will tell me that they refer their newly diagnosed women to my Instagram
47:46page.
47:46Or I have a person thank me for doing the hard work because this is the hard work.
47:53So the Well Project is a non-profit organization.
47:56It serves women and girls living with HIV across the gender spectrum and those that are vulnerable
48:02to it.
48:02On my role of program manager, I get to attend conferences that are related to HIV and AIDS.
48:09I get to go there, learn the information and bring it back to my community.
48:14I get to communicate and meet so many different women from so many different walks of life.
48:21And HIV being the thing that we share.
48:24Man, I get to do my life work every day.
48:27What I hope for my family is that I'm raising two children that know how to use their voice
48:34and that take space up in the world and that fight for what they really truly believe in.
48:41One thing that I would like to tell the world is that for people living with HIV, that is just
48:46a part of our identity.
48:48We have so many other facets and things going on.
48:52HIV is just a small, small part.
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