NEED TO KNOW
Content creators Alex Madison and Jon Bouffard have chosen to keep their daughter Lucy’s identity off social media, instead channeling parenthood into creative skits
Madison says becoming a parent has reshaped how she views online privacy and responsibility
She also tells PEOPLE that the realities of parenthood can be shared online without putting children themselves on display
When Alex Madison and Jon Bouffard welcomed their daughter, Lucy Grey, in September 2025, they knew parenthood would inevitably influence the content that had made them social media favorites.
What they didn’t know was exactly how they would navigate that shift while keeping one priority firmly in place: protecting their daughter’s privacy. Rather than putting her in front of the camera, the couple found an unexpected solution that has become a signature part of their parenting content.
By comically turning Bouffard into a stand-in baby — complete with oversized pink bows — they discovered a way to share their experiences without actually sharing their child.
“We knew that we wanted to not share our daughter online. We wanted to protect her privacy, but I know that we create based off of our real-life experiences,” Madison tells PEOPLE exclusively. “So in order to do that, we had to find a way to create this character that didn’t feel inauthentic, but that still landed comedically, and so dressing up John in a bow, I was like, we’re gonna try this. We’re gonna see how it lands.”
The concept turned out to be a hit, giving the couple a creative outlet while allowing Lucy to remain out of the spotlight. More importantly, Madison says it reinforced the boundaries they wanted to establish from the beginning.
As more family influencers rethink how much of their children’s lives belong online, Madison believes there has been a noticeable shift in how audiences view the issue as well.
“We knew we never wanted to give out too much information in regards to her personal life, and we wanted to protect her privacy, you know? And I think that there’s a big wave of content creators now, family creators specifically, who are leaning towards protecting their children on the internet,” she explains. “But I think for us, it’s just…allowed us to flex a new creative muscle that we didn’t know that we had.”
For Madison, the decision has only become clearer since welcoming Lucy. Becoming a parent, she says, fundamentally changed the way she thinks about privacy online and the responsibility that comes with sharing family life on the internet.
“Now, being a parent, I’m like, it is your number one job to protect your children…they don’t have a voice, you know?” Madison emphasizes. “I think people have been, in the past, very naive to the fact that the internet, there is so much good, but there is so much bad. And so now knowing what we know, I think it is irresponsible to be sharing these intimate details of your child on the internet.”
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Jon Bouffard and Alex Madison.
Credit: Courtesy of Alex Madison and Jon Bouffard
At the same time, Madison is quick to point out that becoming parents has brought immeasurable joy into their lives. Nearly a year into raising Lucy, the content creator lights up when talking about her daughter and the ways parenthood has strengthened her relationship with Bouffard.
“We’re so in love with her. She’s like a perfect little angel princess,” Madison — who recently partnered with Abbott, maker of Similac, and its Love Without Measure initiative — gushes. “Seeing John as a dad melts my heart. I just feel like this new chapter with him has just been so much fun, because we get to do it together.”
The experience has also changed how Madison sees herself. Looking back on life before Lucy, she laughs at some of the assumptions she once had about parenting and recognizes how much becoming a mother has reshaped her priorities.
“I think Lucy has changed us so much for the better, and I sometimes look back and, like, cringe at the person who I am, but in the best way,” she explains. “I’m so happy that we’re in this chapter, but I am the person who I used to talk about and make fun of.”
Jon Bouffard, Alex Madison and their daughter.
Credit: Alex Madison
At the end of the day, Madison says protecting Lucy’s privacy doesn’t mean hiding the realities of parenthood. Instead, she believes creators can be honest about the challenges, joys and messiness of raising children without making kids the centerpiece of online content.
“I just think that there has been a shift that people do understand the why behind protecting their children’s identities and protecting their children’s privacy on the internet,” she says.
Ultimately, Madison hopes parents feel empowered to make the choices that work best for their families while remembering that authenticity and privacy do not have to be at odds.
“It’s really about showing the real, raw, authentic pieces of what it means to be a parent and what that looks like…and [we] can do that safely without exploiting our children on the internet,” Madison tells PEOPLE. “And so, just doing it in a way that makes sense for you, but I think just understanding that nobody’s perfect, and you’re doing your best, and your best is enough.”
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