Teen Mom star Leah Messer admits it’s “very challenging” helping daughter Aliannah “balance” her desire for freedom with the realities of her muscular dystrophy as she and her twin sister Aleeah head off to high school.
Leah spoke candidly to PopCulture.com about the difficult stage she’s in with her 15-year-old, who has titin muscular dystrophy, ahead of the Thursday, Jan. 30 premiere of a brand new season of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
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“It’s very challenging to navigate giving her her freedom [and] teaching her to use her voice, but then finding balance in, ‘Alright, you know, this is a challenge,’” Leah shared. “There aren’t even really words I can even express. … I don’t know, sometimes I feel angry, and I know sadness lies underneath anger. I understand all of that. But this is something that our family faces every single day and we’re just doing the best that we can.”
As Ali takes on high school, Leah said she wants her to “have that independence” in her teen years “even if that looks a little different.” The mother and daughter may butt heads this season on how much Ali needs to use her wheelchair in high school, but Leah was assured that she and her daughter are “navigating it” day by day.
Having her twins enter high school was a surreal moment for the 16 and Pregnant star, who gave birth when she was just 17 years old. “I was nervous,” she told PopCulture of hitting the major milestone with her eldest daughters, joking, “I know how my years in high school were spent.” She continued, “But I’m really proud of who they’re becoming and who they’ll be. We really keep that open dialogue between one another. I mean, they’re going to make their own mistakes, but they’re going to learn their own lessons.”
“I really, really love the relationship I have with them,” Leah gushed. “They’re going to be okay. They’re going to do a lot. But [they’re] going to be a lot different than I was at 16 and 17. I see that.”
Teen Mom: The Next Chapter premieres a brand new season on Thursday, Jan. 30 at 8 p.m. ET on MTV
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