Being adopted, Latrell Higgins had no baby pictures of himself, so the "13-year-old newborn" asked his photographer mother, Kelli, to create a photo album for his birth announcement. Higgins posed in several photos for his "first baby photo shoot."
Kelli Higgins took several photos of her adopted son as if he was a newborn baby. One image shows him swaddled in blankets, while another focuses on his feet.
She posted the photos to Facebook to announce 13-year-old son's "birth."
"'Here's my sweet not so little newborn! His name is Latrell and weighs 112 lbs," Higgins wrote in the caption.
The photo has gone viral since it was posted on January 29. It has over 10,000 "Likes" and has been shared more than 4,500 times.
Higgins and her husband adopted Latrell and his sister in 2011 and welcomed them to their Crestview, Florida home, joining their five biological children, with another on the way. Higgins wanted to share the love that she has with kids who were having a difficult time being adopted.
"These children, once they get past a certain age, they don't find homes and they age out of foster care," Higgins told TODAY.com. "They have to figure out the world on their own and there's no one to go back to as an adult. Where do you go for Christmas? It's just horrible, it's heartbreaking."
During a dinner discussion, when photographer Higgins said she was getting ready for a baby photo shoot, Latrell said he wished he had baby photos, and Higgins' daughter brought up the idea.
"I thought it was funny and that it would be a good idea," Latrell told TODAY.com.
"I was very sad too because I didn't have any photos of him either," Kelli Higgins said. "I think it's really hard to have children and not know what they looked like when they were younger."
Higgins and Latrell set up the shoot the next day and had a blast doing it.
The photos on Facebook have inspired some to consider adopting older children.
"The one reaction that is really humbling and I'm really excited about is there have been a lot of parents that come to me telling me that they were thinking about adopting a baby, but after seeing those photos it's changed their minds and they want to adopt an older child," Higgins told TODAY.com.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
