A newborn photo of an infant girl gazing at an empty cradle with a blue blanket and angel wings representing her twin brother who was stillborn has gone viral and the twins’ mom wants it to spread awareness and hope. “For me, it was important to talk about and not feel so alone,” Heather Bowman, 39, of St. Louis said: “Pregnancy loss is a very personal journey”. Bowman, 39, contacted photographer Jessica Young to capture newborn photographs after adopting daughter Leti, according to Today. Young then suggested that they take a picture in memory of Leti’s late brother, who died while Bowman was 18 weeks pregnant.
Leti, who is swaddled in pink cloth and lying in a wooden cradle, gazes next to another cradle carrying a blue blanket and a set of angel wings, signifying her late twin, in the photograph uploaded online by Young. The ends of the blue and pink blankets are interwoven in an emotive touch.
“This sweet girl visited me at my studio a couple of weeks ago. Her twin brother James passed away at 18 weeks gestation. We wanted a photo to honor their twin bond and James,” Young captioned the emotional image.
After she was approached by Bowman about taking newborn photos, Young told Today, “I knew I wanted to do something special for her.”
“I really liked the idea of weaving the blankets together… I thought it symbolized the bond between them,” she shared.
While Bowman thought the idea for the photograph was “so beautiful,” she was tremendously moved when Leti unexpectedly turned her gaze towards James’ cradle.
“She was staring at that spot. It felt like he was watching over her and he’s there with her,” Bowman said. “I am so blessed and lucky to have this moment documented.” Opening up about her difficult pregnancy journey, Bowman said that she started when she was 36, as she didn’t want to miss out on “being a mom” even though she had yet to find a partner. Although Bowman became pregnant right away, she suffered a . After another round of IUI, she became pregnant with twins — but went into early labor, which the twins didn’t survive. Before getting pregnant with Leti and James, Bowman was diagnosed with a , a type of congenital condition where only one side of the uterus develops, making carrying a pregnancy to full term difficult. Bowman went on to explain that Young’s suggestion to honor James moved her because of all the children she’s lo.st.
“There are women who are diagnosed and they are very hopeless,” she said. “If you advocate for yourself and ask the right questions and find the right doctor you can achieve your dream and my dream was being a mom.”
“They exist. They are my babies,” she shared.
