A swap so sweet! A lesbian couple from Charlotte, North Carolina, are enjoying the power of the Internet after a photo posted two months ago has gone viral.
The pair, Melanie and Vanessa Iris Roy, shared side-by-side shots of their respective baby bumps via Instagram this past February, featuring both ladies during their separate pregnancies. The photo shows an expectant Melanie leaning over and planting a kiss on Vanessa — who hides a bouquet of hydrangeas behind her back.
Then, the second snap features mom-to-be Vanessa, resting her hand on her baby bump and giving Melanie a peck on the beach. Their son Jax plays on the sand below his moms in the photo taken in January 2015.
"Trading places," Melanie wrote, alongside the imminently popular photo. Slowly, LGBT advocacy sites picked up the cute split-screen Instagram shot, which first took off via one Brazilian advocacy group's Facebook page. The image alone posted to The Rainbow Group has garnered more than 160,000 likes and nearly 20,000 shares.
"It's crazy to see that people were referring to my family as an inspiration," Melanie told Huffington Post on Tuesday, April 21. "We are still in complete shock."
She told the site that she hopes their photo will inspire other lesbian couples hoping to have kids.
"Vanessa and I have always said we would both like to carry," she explained. "The woman's body is incredible. The way it creates and grows another human being is amazing. We hope that our picture is that sign that some women may need to encourage them to carry a child."
