‘Teen Mom’: Amber Portwood’s Daughter Leah ‘Scared’ to Tell Her She Wants Stepmom Kristina to Adopt Her

Teen Mom: The Next Chapter is getting into some serious mama drama this week as we dive into Amber Portwood’s daughter, Leah Shirley, asking to be adopted and Jade Cline having problems with her mom Christy following her release from jail. Spoiler-filled recap ahead for Season 2, Episode 20 of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter “Are You Kitten Me?”

Jade Cline Struggles With Her Mother

Most of the action this week goes down at the birthday party Jade throws for her daughter Kloie, with Cheyenne Floyd and Gary Shirley’s families making their way to her home in Indiana to celebrate. But they’re not the only special guests attending. At the request of the birthday girl, Jade’s mom Christy is also invited, but Jade is nervous about seeing her mom for the first time in four months following her stint in jail.

“I hope she’s not high,” Jade says of her mom before the party. “I mean I don’t know because I haven’t talked to her. I mean obviously I know you’re doing drugs. You don’t speak to us anymore. The day I asked you to take a drug test, you ghosted me ever since.”

“It’s pretty obvious with your actions what you’re doing,” Jade continues, tearing up. “It just makes me upset because I don’t want to see her swollen with sores all over her face.”

I really feel for Jade here, because it’s clear that when Christy does show up at the party, she’s trying to start something, complaining to Jade’s BFF Chau that her daughter needs to trust that she’s sober without insisting she takes a drug test. Jade really does stay out of it and keeps the party going without giving into the drama, but after everything is all said and done, she admits that she and her mom are in a worse place than ever before.

Leah Shirley Wants Stepmom Kristina to Adopt Her

It’s this situation that really gives her a lot of empathy for Leah Shirley when it comes to the teen’s troubled relationship with her mom, Amber Portwood. I have to say, it really shocked me when Jade straight up called out Amber on camera for focusing on her romantic relationships over the connection she has with her daughter, because Amber has gotten so many passes from her castmates in the past.

But even Leah is done sugarcoating things this season, she straight up tells Cheyenne at the birthday party that she hasn’t talked to her mom “in a while” and she’s at the point where she doesn’t “really care anymore.” She continues, “Amber, when I do see her, she acts like everything is perfectly fine, and it’s like, ‘I haven’t seen you in months. Why are you talking to me?’”

In fact, Leah said she’s ready for stepmom Kristina to adopt her. “I’ve been wanting it for a while,” she tells Cheyenne. “Kristina has been here for me since I was in kindergarten, and I think before that too.” Leah admits she’s “scared” to tell Amber her true feelings, adding, “Obviously, she has a lot of things going on and lots of difficulties. But I just, I feel like I can’t handle it. I wish I could, but I can’t.”

Later in the episode, Leah has a sit-down with her dad and Kristina to share what she and Cheyenne had talked about at the party. “I told her I haven’t really seen Amber for a couple months, or heard from her, so I really just don’t care anymore if she comes around,” Leah says, adding to Kristina, “I also mentioned how I want you to adopt me. And I mentioned how I’ve been wanting that for a long time.”

Gary stresses to Leah that adoption would be a huge step and a “big heartbreak” for Amber, but she insists it’s what’s right for her moving forward, and Gary agrees to reach out to some attorneys to get the ball rolling.

Aliannah and Aleeah Take on Homecoming!

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While all of this is going down in Indiana, in West Virginia, Leah Messer and Corey Simms are navigating twin daughters Aliannah and Aleeah’s first-ever homecoming dance! The girls look so beautiful and have so much fun at the dance, and I was just cracking up at Corey and Leah’s rules for the dance — which include no kissing, no twerking, and keeping half a foot away from any boys. Leah says she can’t believe the girls are off to their first high school dance, joking that they were most likely conceived at her first dance — and I’m feeling old just thinking about it!

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.