Laura Stennett Photography(NEW YORK) — Lauren Ashcraft is refusing to let online shamers get her down after she did a cheeseburger-themed photo shoot with her “adorably chunky” son, Liam.
Liam was only 6 pounds, 6 ounces at birth, so she wanted to document “how healthy and perfect he was growing,” Ashcraft told ABC News in an email.
Liam and his twin sister, Lola, were born to the Anchorage, Alaska, mom.
“Because they were twins, they were small. By 4 months, he was 16 pounds. He fattened up really quick,” she added.
The results of the cheeseburger-filled shoot were adorable, and at first, the response on social media was “wonderful,” Ashcraft said.
But then, “the ‘sanctimommies’ showed up in force,” Ashcraft said, referring to the online commenters who began attacking her son’s weight, health, and her choices as a mom.
“It became apparent they were posting Liam’s pictures in their private special interest mom groups and having their members come attack everything from me to my son. It made me sick, angry, and most of all sad,” she said.
It didn’t take long before Ashcraft decided “they would not win.”
She scheduled another photo shoot with Liam’s twin sister, Lola, surrounded by healthy organic vegetables.
“We wanted them to realize this was all done in good fun and to lighten up!” said Ashcraft.
The photographer who did the shoots, Laura Stennett, is also one of Ashcraft’s best friends. She said she was just as offended by the negativity surrounding Liam’s photo shoot and was totally on board to have fun with their creative follow-up.
“Instead of letting the naysayers bully us into taking the photos down, and instead of wasting hours of our lives combatting their comments with responses — engaging them only made it worse — we decided to do the veggie smash with his twin sister Lola,” Stennett told ABC News in an email.
Ashcraft said her photo shoots were “done in good fun” and “the rest doesn’t matter.”
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