When Samantha Ruch of West Roxbury says her daughter is always by her side, she means it literally. Extending from the middle of Ruch's ribcage down to her right hip is the name Devin tattooed in block letters intertwined with flowers and vines."At the time, it was just me and my daughter," said Ruch, 28, who was divorced when she got the 10-inch-long tattoo two years ago. "Devin was my right-hand girl, and I wanted to represent that."
At one time, stretch marks were the most permanent reminders of childbirth on a woman's body, but now it might be footprints, teddy bears, baseball gloves, names, birthdates, or even the child's portrait inked in the place of the mother's choosing.
It's more and more common that women get tattoos that represent their children, according to Scott Matalon, 44, who estimates that his Allston shop, Stingray Body Art and More, does at least one mother tattoo out of approximately 50 tattoos each week. "Like having a child, there's something deeply personal about getting a tattoo," Matalon said. "For some people it's also therapeutic."
That was Tracey Litt's feeling after a disappointing birth experience with her daughter Zola, now 6. Litt, 44, a home inspector from Somerville, had planned for natural childbirth but was forced to have a Caesarean section. As a way to move past her feelings, Litt, already sporting seven tattoos, got another on Zola's second birthday. Now the C-section scar that crosses Litt's bikini line is flanked by two small Chinese symbols: mother on one side, daughter on the other. "It says this is the scar that connects us." Litt explained. "It was my way of making sense of the birth."
"People who like tattoos want to dedicate part of their body to show their love for their kids," said Chris Keaton, owner of the Baltimore Tattoo Museum in Maryland. He thinks the trend started in the 1980s when prominent athletes and actors started getting visible tattoos and people wanted to emulate them.
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