Why ‘Teen Mom’s Briana DeJesus Wants to Get Her Tubes Tied

The stars of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter are facing some serious choices this week when it comes to their futures as Briana DeJesus grapples with the possibility of getting her tubes tied, Ashley Jones gets some shocking news, and Mackenzie McKee evaluates her custody agreement with ex-husband Josh McKee. Spoiler-filled recap ahead for Season 2, Episode 21 of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter “Three Times is a Pattern.”

Briana Doesn’t Want to Create More ‘Broken Homes’

Let’s start with Briana, because she having a tough time deciding whether or not to get her tubes tied now that daughters Nova and Stella are getting older. “I just need to make sure that I wipe out any possibility of me having another baby with someone like Luis [Hernandez] or Devoin [Austin],” she tells her mom and sister. “Three baby daddies? No, not me. Once is a mistake. Three times is a pattern, and that’s just not going to be me.”

Bri’s not a fan of birth control, and she’s also single and celibate right now, so I’m not sure why this is so top of mind, but I agree with Brittany saying, “You don’t got to explain yourself to nobody because at the end of the day, no is a complete f—ing sentence, and it’s your body, your choice.”

Briana’s mom, on the other hand, thinks she would regret getting such a permanent procedure done, especially if she finds herself in another relationship down the road — a message Mackenzie echoes elsewhere in the episode when Bri asks her advice. But Briana has her heart set on it, and the deeper reason she reveals at the end of the episode is truly heartbreaking.

“I had two kids. I struggled hard. I think about that all the time. I try to make that up to Nova because I know I was so young and I felt like Nova wasn’t my main priority when I was younger,” she says, adding, “In order for me to give them everything, I need to make sure that I don’t let what I did twice happen one more time. I don’t want to continue to create these broken homes.”

Mackenzie McKee Reconsiders Custody Agreement

Mackenzie is also struggling with the future of her family as she’s officially cleared to start IVF with fiancé Khesanio Hall. IVF is hard, and as Mackenzie looks to have another baby, she’s looking kind of at the dynamics of her existing family. We learn that her ex-husband Josh sees his kids twice a year and he won’t even call the two younger ones back. (Plus, we saw earlier this season that he’s just giving weird sex ed advice to the third.)

She’s kind of considering pushing for full custody of her three kids before welcoming a fourth, but Briana warns her that lawyers had advised her not to “open a can of worms” if the father isn’t actively causing problems for her. It’s such a tough call, but we end the episode with Mackenzie looking up lawyers, so it’s possible she’ll go forward with it!

Ashley Jones Gets Bad News About School

Another tough call comes for Ashley this episode when she receives notice that she’s actually not set to resume nursing school after her leave of absence. Ashley is told she’s going to have to wait four months before she can start again next semester, but her seat isn’t a guarantee!

Ashley’s had a tough go of it with ex Bar Smith’s criminal case and the trauma of basically being held hostage by him, but now she’s got some big decisions to make about what comes next, whether it’s waiting around for her spot in school or starting over at another institution.

Maci Bookout Worries About Bentley

Finally, we had Maci Bookout dealing with the fact that her oldest son Bentley is officially on the road! Yes, she and ex Ryan Edwards bought him a car earlier in the season, but now that Bentley’s passed his driver’s test, Maci admits she has mixed emotions about having a kid out there driving. “I’m so excited for him, and then literally I wanna crawl in a hole,” admits the “terrified” mom.

Watch out everyone, these Teen Mom kids are DRIVING! And I think I just found another gray hair…

This article was adapted from the latest episode of PopCulture Social Call, streaming weekdays on PopCulture.com’s YouTube channel. You can now watch this episode, which is embedded in the above article.