CHARLOTTE, NC - Business is booming at local tattoo shops but it's not from the biker and hipster clientele more Charlotte mothers are getting inked up and taking parenthood to a much more permanent level. 

She may be the last person you'd expect to see wandering around a tattoo shop, but a growing number of Charlotte mom's are going beyond photos and facebook to show off their youngsters. Mothers from all over are inking up to show off their children, struggles and the trend is just beginning.

Nick Hughes is the owner of Sinners and Saints Tattoos. He says local mothers account for 50% of his business, "The daughter, the mother, the grandmother; also brought the neighbor from across the street, she was about 81 years old when I tattooed her." 

A trend that is spreading all across the Queen City. At Cosmic Tattoos, owner Emily Hefley says mom's are big business, "Without my mother clientele, my female clientele, I would be in a little bit of trouble."

Jenn Agnew is mother from Pineville. She says tattoos are a way to express herself, "I can still be cool as a mom and express myself in other ways rather than just pushing my stroller around, which I still do wearing my tattoos."

But it's not all about being on the cutting edge, for some mothers tattoos are a way to commemorate children they've lost and deal with some of their toughest memories. Candy Ginn is a mother who is doing just that. Ginn has an angel tattoo with hearts and flowers to remember her daughter, who died at just 8 weeks old. Today she would of been 26 years old, "I know its there, it's like even though I can't feel it, I know it's on my back and I know she's always there."

But the tattoo is not just helping Candy cope with her past, it's changing her present. Candy recently visited her mom who has been battling alzheimer's to show off her new tattoo, "She had a big smile on her face and I said you know mom that's for Sara, and she said I know it's pretty. Those are I am certain the last words I'll ever hear my mom say to me."

Sara Denton is another mother who is inking up to cope with a difficult time. Her son Spencer was diagnosed with autism at just 22 months old, "People who are unaware, you hear it being said, out in public, people don't stop to take the time to think about what that mother is going through, what that child is going through."

A battle that tattooing has made easier and it seems this new trend is here to stay. 

Just last year the Pew Research Center reported that 35% of Americans ages 20 to 45 have at least one tattoo.