Women breastfeed babies during a mass event in Athens November 2, 2014. Hundreds of women gathered and fed babies in public to raise awareness among young mothers on the practice at the beginning of the annual World Breastfeeding Week.
IN PHOTO: Women breastfeed babies during a mass event in Athens November 2, 2014. Hundreds of women gathered and fed babies in public to raise awareness among young mothers on the practice at the beginning of the annual World Breastfeeding Week. REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) TEMPLATE OUT
Women breastfeed babies during a mass event in Athens November 2, 2014. Hundreds of women gathered and fed babies in public to raise awareness among young mothers on the practice at the beginning of the annual World Breastfeeding Week. REUTERS/Yorgos Karahalis (GREECE - Tags: POLITICS SOCIETY) TEMPLATE OUT

A photo shared on Facebook showing a young mother breastfeeding her baby while dressed in toga for her university graduation has gone viral. A day after it was posted via the social media site, it has garnered over 100,000 likes, elicited 3,400 comments and was shared 2,700 times.

But Jacci Sharkey, who graduated in October from the University of Sunshine Coast in Queensland, Australia, insisted it is not a photo meant to promote breastfeeding.

Her sister-in-law took the photo of Sharkey at her graduation when the infant Alek was just six weeks old. The human resource management graduate, in turn, sent the photo to her alma mater as her way of thanking the university, which posted the picture on its Facebook page on Nov 2.

The photo, now her profile picture on a Facebook community page created, after it became viral, thrust the mother of two into the limelight. It made her the poster girl not only of breastfeeding but also of the value of acquiring a degree as she tells other young women that having children at a young age doesn't mean foregoing education.

"You don't have to give up the career to have kids and you don't have to give up the kids to have the career ... you can have it all," ABC quoted Sharkey.

Sharkey gave birth twice during her three and a half year in the university. Besides Alek, she is also mother to Ari, now 20 months old. She stressed that being mum doesn't mean women should be housebound only.

Her message is a whiff of fresh air from recent findings of a Harvard sociologist who visited Japan and discovered its youth hit by the celibacy syndrome in which young Japs not only give up dating and sex but also fear entering into a romantic relationship. The only relationship they trust is a platonic one which would spell disaster for Japan's population, already reeling from the large number of seniors.

Read: 1/3 Of Japanese Youth Never Been On A Date As Celibacy Syndrome Hits Country

Her story also led to the posting of at least 10 video clips on YouTube, such as this one below.

YouTube/Baby Smiley