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By Lucy Notarantonio
Senior Reporter
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A video of a woman sobbing while baking cupcakes for her birthday has racked up over 36 million views on TikTok.
The heartbreaking clip shared by Elizabeth Teckenbrock (@morethanelizabeth) shows the reality of celebrating a birthday as a single parent.
"I was not upset about making the cake, it was just a ton of emotions coming from exhaustion and loneliness," the mom-of-four from Tampa, Florida, told Newsweek.
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The footage shows Teckenbrock crying her eyes out as she makes cupcakes for her children aged 3 to 12 years old, to decorate on her 29th birthday (May, 19). So far, the clip, shared on May, 20, has received 4.5 million likes.
The on-screen text says: "Being a single mom is making your own birthday cake on your birthday so that your babies can feel happy [when] they are singing to you."
A 2019 Pew Research Center study covering 130 countries and territories revealed that the U.S. had the highest rate of children living in single-parent households globally. Nearly 23 percent of U.S. children (under 18) live with one parent and no other adults, which is over three times the global share of children in a similar situation (7 percent).
Teckenbrock told Newsweek that she got divorced three years ago but this was the first birthday she was celebrating without her extended family.
She said: "This is my first birthday alone. Typically I would have family etc but all of my family is far this year, and it is just me living in Tampa."
Teckenbrock, the founder of Fear to Fierce, a nonprofit organization for abused women, explained that she initially started to record the clip to show that single moms can "do it all."
"But as I was making the cake, I was emotional and started crying which I was not expecting. It was an emotional day," she told Newsweek. "I was so upset at the time."
"Truth be told I don't love cake. It was all for them."
TikTok Reacts
At the time of writing, the video has received more than 121,000 comments.
One user said: "In case you didn't hear this today, you're doing a great job, you are so loved. I would have killed to have a mom like you growing up. I know it's hard but you're doing such a good job."
"I had to do this while married and then as a single mom. Men need to step up," said another comment.
A third commenter said: "My mom was a single mom for a lot of my life. I watched her cry when she thought no one was watching. You're so seen. So much respect for you."
Teckenbrock told Newsweek: "Seeing that so many moms are going through this, single or not, was heartbreaking."
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