Valerie and Wendy Mattingly are proud parents to six adorable cats: Woofie, Elliot, Gracie Mae, Gerald, Tweedy, and Roger. These furry friends mean the world to them, and for a while now, they’ve been hoping to expand their family by adding a human baby. Their journey to parenthood was quite a ride, involving two years and several unsuccessful IVF attempts. Through it all, their faithful feline companions were there every step of the way.
Valerie Mattingly shared with The Dodo, “The cats would climb on my back while my wife gave me my IVF shots. Sometimes they would sniff the alcohol wipes and make a funny face. They really helped lift our spirits during this process.”
When the couple finally received the incredible news that a baby was on the way, they knew they had to involve their cats in their pregnancy announcement. After all, their fur babies had been part of the journey all along, so why stop now?
Their pregnancy announcement took everyone by surprise and filled hearts with joy, not just because of the baby but also because of their fantastic feline family. The announcement featured all six cats with their paws resting on their mom’s pregnant belly, leaving everyone wondering how they managed to capture such a perfect shot.
Valerie Mattingly revealed, “A surprising amount of people have asked how we did it. They’ve asked for zoomed-out pictures because they thought we had six people holding cats on the side.”
So, how did they actually achieve this magical photo? It involved a little creativity and a whole lot of patience. Valerie explained, “We set our camera on a tripod and took a timed photo of just my belly and our hands. Then I took the dress I was wearing and put it on a pillow and held each cat’s paw out against the pillow while my wife took the pictures. Then my wife Photoshopped the images together. Let’s just say there are about 100 pictures of cat paws on my camera now.”
Even though the photo wasn’t the result of one big, chaotic photoshoot, the cats were still very much involved in every step of the process. Valerie shared, “When we were taking photos of my belly, all six of them were right beside us. They were climbing on the window sill and trying to knock the camera over. They’re very clingy! When it was their turn, they were a little less enthusiastic but still willing. The girls were the most natural in front of the camera. Two of our orange boys just seemed confused, and the third orange boy was not thrilled. You can see his angry thumb paw gripping the fabric if you look closely.”
Wendy Mattingly, who happens to be a graphic designer, handled the final editing, and she did an amazing job. The Photoshop magic definitely had everyone fooled.
The Mattingly couple is over the moon that their dream of becoming parents is finally coming true, and they can’t wait to introduce their human child to their six furry children. It’s safe to say this family is bursting with love, both for their cats and their soon-to-arrive bundle of joy.
