A single mother has received support online after she filmed herself crying over making her own birthday cake.

In a video posted to TikTok this week, user Elizabeth (@morethanelizabeth) shared footage from her kitchen, where she was baking cupcakes. The mother cried as she poured flour into a bowl, and wiped away tears after filling the baking sheet.

“Being a single mom is making your own birthday cake on your birthday so that your babies can feel happy they are singing to you,” Elizabeth wrote over the video, which was set to “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri. In her caption, the mother added: “Geez I’m tired of hurting.”

Since it was posted earlier this week, her video has received more than 37m views on TikTok. However, not everyone was sympathetic toward Elizabeth’s struggle as a single mom.

“You would never last in a man’s world,” one internet troll commented, while someone else said: “Chill out! I’m married and don’t get a cake.”

“Why are you crying? You clearly need to work on yourself and your kids first,” another person wrote, adding that “being single is better than being with the wrong person”.

In response to the criticism, adult children of single mothers took to the comments section to defend Elizabeth, while also sharing some words of encouragement.

“In case you didn’t hear this today, you’re doing a great job, you are so loved,” one viewer commented. “I would have killed to have a mom like you growing up. I know it’s hard but you’re doing such a good job.”