Lesbian Couple Shares Beautiful Mirror-Image Photo Of Their Pregnancies

Two months ago, Melanie Roy posted a special picture to Instagram.

It consisted of two side-by-side photos. The first was taken in 2014, when her partner Vanessa Iris Roy was pregnant with their son, Jax. The second, taken exactly a year later, is from when she was pregnant with their daughter, Ero -- this one, a mirror image of the original photo.

Melanie captioned the image “Trading places.”

Friends and family shared the inspiring photo among themselves, but it wasn't until a Brazilian LGBT advocacy group caught wind of the image that it began its rapid ascent to viral fame.

Now, two months later, the gorgeous photo has been shared all over the world, to the tune of over 160,000 cumulative "likes."

Melanie told the Huffington Post,

It's crazy to see that people were referring to my family as an inspiration. We are still in complete shock.

Melanie and Vanessa Iris both wanted to carry at some point, and they hope their family portraits inspire other women to do the same.

Melanie said,

The woman's body is incredible. The way it creates and grows another human being is amazing. We hope that our picture is a sign that some women may need to encourage them to carry a child.

Their obvious happiness should be encouragement enough. The family may not be a “traditional” nuclear family, but it's clear theirs is a family filled with love and happiness -- and that is really all that matters.

Here's the original side-by-side photo.

Melanie and Vanessa got pregnant almost exactly one year apart.

Now they have a son and a daughter.

"I'm so thankful for the life I've been given," Melanie wrote on Facebook.

The new mom calls Vanessa Iris "my best friend, therapist, lover and partner."

This is what a family is supposed to look like -- happy and full of love.

Citations: Lesbian couple share amazing photos of their side by side pregnancies (Daily Mail), Lesbian couples side by side pregnancy photos are truly aww worthy (Huffington Post)