The photo above has been circulating online and quickly became viral.  Many felt the picture was a fake but in fact… it’s not. It’s about as real as they come!

The birth itself took place on October 9, 2012, when Alicia Atkins of Arizona underwent a C-section with husband Randy by her side.

“The doctor called me over and said, ‘Hey, she’s grabbing my finger,’” Randy recalled to 3TV News. “So I ran over there and just grabbed the shot and I was just in awe looking at it. It was such an amazing picture.”

“I just wanted to make sure I got the picture because it was so cool.”

Alicia posted the picture on her facebook page December 26th, and has since been in several news magazines and even television shows.  She had no idea that sharing that special moment of her daughter’s birth would turn into such a big deal.

Upon posting the photo, Alicia wrote:

Alicia and her husband Randy expected to receive some negative feedback when they decided to post the photo on Facebook. But they were surprised to receive over 8,000 likes and overwhelmingly positive comments.

The photo has now been shared almost 10,000 times and many facebookers have even shown interest in purchasing the photo.

“A couple of them have said they would love to have the photo for their organization where they’re against abortion,” Alicia explained, adding that she may sell prints someday but that she’ll always hold on to the copyright.

The couple has been since interviewed by several news outlets about their iconic keepsake and the Atkins also had the photo printed on a canvas for their doctor.

“I’ve never captured that picture before,” Dr. Sawyer said. “It’s really rare.”

Alicia has her own photography company, A Classic Pin-Up, in Glendale and recently thanked family, friends and supports for the overwhelming response to their daughter,’s first portrait, stating:

I just want to give a quick shout out to everyone that has commented, shared, liked,and shown love to us over our daughters photo the past couple days. I tried to respond to everyone and then yesterday I couldnt. The photo has gone completely viral, worldwide, and as you can imagine, we are a little overwhelmed. We appreciate all the psoitive feedback you all have given to us.
And thank you for supporting us throught this time.

We obviously didnt think it would ever be as huge as it is now.

And in case you were wondering, the Atkins’ new arrival is named Neveah, which is heaven backwards. How coincidental is THAT!

 What do you think of Alicia’s iconic family keepsake?