Before Ryan Edwards is permitted to see his son Bentley, ex Maci Bookout McKinney is requiring him to pass a drug test.
On Monday’s episode of Teen Mom OG, Bookout reveals that after the blowout she had with Edwards over his desire to see his son, she had her lawyer send him a letter detailing what he would need to do to resume visitation of the 8-year-old. Edwards, in return, threatened “legal action.”
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“I had already told him that he should be expecting a letter from my attorney,” Bookout tells a friend.
“What doing that exactly mean?” Bookout says her ex texted in return.
“Given the events of the last several months, it’s going to be necessary for me to ensure that Bentley is not being put at risk, so I’ll need you to pass a drug screening, hair and urine, at my expense, immediately prior to you taking him for a visit,” she responds.
After that? No response, Bookout says.
Edwards completed 21 days of a 30-day rehab program after his wife Mackenzie Standifer accused him of spending as much as $10,000 on drugs a week.
Oddly enough, he admits to a friend in Monday’s episode that he is still experiencing withdrawal symptoms even after he says he completed a detox program.
Worse than recovery, however, is not being able to see Bentley on a one-on-one basis.
“She has never helped me,” Edwards says of raising his son, despite being absent for much of his son’s life.
Bookout says she doesn’t want to keep Bentley from his dad, especially because the boy keeps asking to see his grandparents, Edwards’ mom and dad.
“It’s killing me, because it’s killing him,” she says of Bentley, “I don’t want to take them away from him. That’s terrible.”
Bookout doesn’t hear back from Edwards about being willing to take a drug test, but he does contact a lawyer of his own to see if it’s “even legal” for Bookout to keep him from seeing his son.
The lawyer says it is indeed legal, if “rotten,” but if Edwards wants to get any legally mandated time with his son, he’ll have to take the drug test like Bookout wants.
“I’m hoping that you can pass drug screens, and that you’re going to be able to continue to pass drugs screens, because I’ve never met a judge who would continue to grant parenting time to someone who was struggling to pass drug screens,” the lawyer says.
“Yeah,” Edwards responds, looking down.
Photo credit: MTV