Amber Portwood’s teenage daughter, Leah Shirley is breaking her silence on her parents’ violent Teen Mom episodes. Her father, Gary Shirley was engaged to Amber for a short time and they had an extremely combative relationship. It was showcased on the hit MTV reality series and they eventually parted ways, attempting to co-parent Leah. Now, as Leah is sixteen years old, how does she feel seeing her parents go at it? Keep reading for more details.
Amber Portwood’s Daughter Confronted By Parents’ Past
When Amber Portwood was a teenager, she and her boyfriend, Gary Shirley found themselves pregnant. They got engaged and welcomed their daughter, Leah but it was very difficult. Eventually, it became an aggressive situation, and the two had to part ways. He moved on with a woman named Kristina, they tied the knot and welcomed a daughter, Emilee. As for Amber, she floated from man to man while battling mental health and substance abuse issues. Gary took custody of Leah and wanted to create stability for her which Amber could not.
Amber did have a baby, James with her then-boyfriend, Andrew Glennon who she was caught verbally assaulting but they split. He then took James to California where his family lived which was quite far from Indiana. She found another man, Gary Wayt, and quickly became engaged while neglecting Leah. Amber did not understand why Leah wanted to be adopted by her stepmother or why she was disinterested in her mother. Now, according to E! News, things have further shifted for Leah as she has finally seen her parents’s violent fights.
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During the Thursday, February 20th episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Leah Shirley revealed she watched some old footage of her parents. She saw the aggressive battles between Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley but what was her reaction? Leah explained to Gary that initially she was messaged by a friend:
“My friend messaged me and she’s like, ‘Are you on a TV show?’ And I was like, ‘Yeah.’ And she’s like, ‘A video just popped up on my TikTok.’ And I was like, ‘Oh.’ It’s just weird. I’ve been seeing a lot of TikTok videos with old clips and stuff.”
She went on to add that some of the clips she saw were the combative ones between her parents and they have been hard to watch.
The Bad, The Worse, & The Ugly
Leah Shirley shared that she mainly sees Teen Mom clips from when she was around two. It shows Amber Portwood screaming at Gary Shirley to leave plus she sees her mother abandoning her. Those cut like a knife:
“I see the older ones from when I was, like, 2. And it’s just weird to watch because it’s always, like, Amber screaming at you and you leave. And then there’s one clip where she’s yelling, like, ‘Why is Leah crying?’—when she’s in a complete opposite room, just leaving me. And it’s just weird. I think those ones are kinda painful to watch because it’s little me.”
Leah has asked for her stepmom to adopt her, even calling Kristina “mom.” She does not really see Amber as her mother but that does not sit well with her biological mother. When she learned that Leah wanted to be adopted, she claimed she would do what she had to to stop it. Admittedly, Leah claims her mother has left her with a lot of issues. Gary felt awful knowing Leah had seen the videos and wished he had grabbed her and left ASAP. She reassured him it was not his fault and is considering therapy.
