Erin Napieris opening up about her personal decision to hide her daughter’s face on social media.

“I explained to a very rude comment about Helen, but don’t want her being dogpiled. I can block her and move on. But for those who must ask why we hide her face?” she began.

“We are the protectors of her image. Without Helen, our lives would be hollow and there would be nothing to share. She exists and we are proud of her,” the mom continues. “But her likeness is ours to protect and decide when it’s okay to share, no one else’s. That’s our personal choice, and it’s not the same for everyone.”

“We love and appreciate everyone who supports the show,” adds Erin, “but Helen doesn’t owe anyone anything.”

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Erin Napier/Instagram

Erin Napier

The statement comes one month after Erin spoke directly to some commenters on Instagram, explaining why their negative remarks hurt her and her family, and why shechose to take down a recent photoshe’d posted of Helen.

The Napierspreviously opened up to PEOPLEabout their decision, when the show began, to keep their daughter off-camera. “People will walk up when they see her, really excited like, ‘Oh, you must be Helen.’ And they touch the back of her head,” said Ben. “She doesn’t like strangers and she doesn’t want them to touch her.”

“I want Helen to be grounded in the real world and real relationships,” added Erin. “She’s not ready for social media and won’t be for many years. I don’t even want her to know that it exists.”

source: people.com