Amber Portwood’s 13-year-old daughter Leah thinks it’s “really unfair” that the Teen Mom star lost custody of her 4-year-old son James. After a court ruled in the favor of Portwood’s ex, Andrew Glennon, back in July, the MTV star’s eldest child sat down with her father, Gary Shirley, to discuss what this means for their family in a PopCulture.com exclusive sneak peek of Tuesday’s Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
Gary explains to his daughter that her mom’s case is “now concluded,” and while he didn’t know the “ins and outs of it,” he did know that Glennon would now be able to move James to live with him in California which is what he assumed would happen. “That’s really unfair,” Leah responds, adding, “My mom and James, they do have … a nice relationship. Like something I didn’t have with her.”
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“But it’s unfair because all of her work that [she’s] gone through to even be here now, it’s like all for nothing,” Leah continues. Gary assures her that that work was “not all for nothing,” but acknowledges “it might seem like that.” Leah, however, is worried that it will “feel like that too” and “hit really hard” for her mom. Leah also shares with her dad that while she might not live with James like she does her step-sister Emilee, she’s still “gonna miss him a lot,” and worries he’ll be “missing his mom” as well.
The teen tells her dad that she did reach out to Portwood the other day to ask how she was doing and told her how much she loved her. “You just focus on giving James all your love, and you focus on communicating with your mom as much as you want to and feel like you can,” Gary replies. “That will help her, but for you, I would just tell you to enjoy what time you have.”
Portwood released a statement after the court ruling in July saying that she was “devastated and heartbroken” to lose custody of her son. “I’ve worked so hard to better myself and improve my relationships with my children. While I’ve always been candid about my past substance abuse and struggles with mental illness, a person should have the chance to redeem themselves and not be tethered to their problems from the past,” she continued.
The 16 and Pregnant alum continued, “I’ve spent years rebuilding bridges and did everything that was required of me, including submitting 21 negative drug tests and undergoing multiple psychological evaluations, if your road has not been perfect, but you’ve worked hard to become a better, more stable and caring person today, keep moving forward as I will. I’ll never stop fighting for my children who I love more than anything.”ย Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.