New Parents Whamos Cruz, Antonette Gail Didn't Have To Show Their Baby's Face To Prove Anything

Social media personalities Kim Whamos Cruz and his partner Antonette Gail del Rosario welcomed their first child, Adriel Meteor or Baby Meteor, on January 23.

Whamos, 24, who has over 18 million followers on social media combined, rose to fame after his entertaining audition in the reality singing competition Idol Philippines in 2019. He announced the news about their son's birth on Tuesday.

The couple first revealed their pregnancy in June. In a photo he shared on Facebook, Whamos said, "WAG MO SANA AKO MAKA MUKA BABY PARA DIKA MAKARANAS NG PANG LALAIT NG IBANG TAO."

On January 25, Whamos shared a video of Baby Meteor, revealing his face for the first time on Facebook. As of writing, the face reveal video has over 2.5 million likes. Among the top comments on their baby's photos are "Cuteness overload," and "Guapo."

Immediately, the proud parents created a Facebook page for their child. Baby Meteor, barely a week old, has almost half a million followers as of press time. 

Amid all the congratulatory messages, digging deeper, it's disappointing to still see some comments saying "Nasalisihan ka," or "Buti hindi kamukha ng daddy." Take it from us: Don't mind them. 

"Kahit kanino mang kamukha yung anak ko wala silang karapatan magsalita ng kung ano ano."

Antonette Gail, who's turning 19 in February, said, "IKAW ANG PINAKA MAGANDANG REGALO SA BDAY KO BABY METEOR." 

What these new parents need from their followers is support, nothing else. 

'Walang karapatan magsalita ng kung anu-ano'

In an interview with KAMI in October, Antonette had this message for her baby, "Promise ko sayo na hindi ko paparanas sayo yung mga bagay na naranasan ko like broken family. I love you my baby boy. Stay safe & healthy. Kahit kanino mang kamukha yung anak ko wala silang karapatan magsalita ng kung ano ano. Sabihin na nila lahat sakin tatanggapin ko pero pag dating sa anak ko wala silang karapatan."

In a recent article, we wrote about how we cannot demand public personas to show their babies' faces. We are mere guests in their lives, no matter how openly they share about it. We are not in any position to comment on their child's looks, moreso tell them whether they are cute or not.

As parents, celebrity or not, we should not feel obliged to share photos of our children on social media.

READ ALSO: Here’s Why Angelica Panganiban Isn’t Showing Her Daughter’s Face Even If ‘Proud Na Proud Kami'

Social media and children

According to Raising Children Network, "If you write about your child or post images of your child online, it means that you’re creating a digital footprint for them. If you do this a lot from when your child is young, it will be a big digital footprint by the time your child gets to the teenage years."

Remember that what we post online about our children, we can no longer fully take down. Someone in some part of the world may have downloaded a copy of the photo or video that you posted, and you may never be able to retrieve it. 

"One of the most important things you can do is make sure that the images and information you post send a positive message about your child," the Australian parenting network reminded.

The case of Kylie Jenner

On the other hand, Kylie Jenner, recently shared the name and photos of Aire, her second child with Travis Scott, after keeping it private on social media for almost a year.

Kylie, who is one of the most popular Instagram influencers with over 379 million followers, wasn't compelled to post her son's photo immediately after birth.

Now that her son's name and photos are out, some of her fans are already saying a lot of things about him; one of which is that his name means something rude in Arabic. Who knows what they are going to say next? Sana ba hindi nalang niya pinost kung ayaw niya ma-bash? Or is this a call for us to change our toxic attitude?

We don't have to look far, but also just recently, first-time parents Luis Manzano and Jessy Mendiola received some undeserved bashing after they opted to conceal their baby's face on social media. 

Whether parents share the photos of their child or not, we echo the top advice for first-time parents: your child, your rules. 

And for everyone else, if you have nothing positive to say, just keep it to yourself. 

If it helps, take a social media break.

Let's build a better, non-judgmental world for Baby Meteor and Aire. We can do better.