On the brand new Teen Mother: The Subsequent Chapter, Gary meets with a lawyer after Leah expressed her need to be adopted by her stepmom, Kristina, whereas the teenager additionally reiterates that she’s “scared” of how Amber would react.
Amber Portwood’s ex, Gary Shirley, is taking the primary steps for his or her daughter Leah to turn into adopted by her stepmother.
On Thursday’s episode of Teen Mother: The Subsequent Chapter, Gary met with a lawyer to debate the potential of Leah getting adopted by his spouse, Kristina, after his daughter expressed how she desires to be adopted by her stepmom amid her estrangement from Amber.
And in line with the lawyer, they’ve “actually a superb case for adoption.”
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Earlier than Gary and Kristina went to go to the lawyer, Trina Saunders, Gary shared his ideas and considerations in a confessional.
“With the potential of Kristina adopting Leah, I am completely on board. It isn’t as straightforward as signing a examine or snapping your fingers; there’s so much concerned,” mentioned Gary, who was granted full custody of Leah in 2011.
“We’ve to go to courtroom. That places lots of strain on her,” he continued. “After which, what if her mother simply impulsively begins to take her, you recognize? It is a pressure on me. It is a pressure on poor Leah. I am not right here to harm Amber, however she should not be right here to harm Leah, both.”
“Any person’s gonna get damage,” Gary added. “And the individual [who’s] hurting essentially the most proper now could be Leah. I am ensuring my child would not undergo.”
Whereas it was already recognized to viewers that Amber and Leah have been estranged, Gary instructed the lawyer that Amber has solely seen Leah “4 days” within the “previous yr.”
When Saunders requested about little one help, Gary mentioned that it isn’t “enforced by the courtroom,” and claimed Amber is “behind” on funds.
And in line with Saunders, within the courtroom’s eyes, Amber’s absence in Leah’s life is taken into account “abandonment.”
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“As a result of she’s not had any vital contact along with her mom over the past six months, that is deemed as abandonment,” the lawyer instructed Gary and Kristina.
“I feel that adoption can be your only option, as a result of in an adoption that severs that parent-child relationship that she has along with her mom, and you’ll turn into her mom, and also you additionally can be positioned on the start certificates as her mom,” Saunders mentioned to Kristina.
“But when we are able to present that [Amber’s] deserted her daughter, then we do not want her mother’s consent,” she added.
Whereas Gary admitted that he thinks Amber would “contest” the adoption, Saunders famous that she believes that if it went to courtroom, they’d “have the ability to present” that Amber has “not been” in Leah’s life, “she’s not supplied for her financially, [and] she’s not had vital contact along with her in over six months.”
“I feel you could have a very good case for adoption,” she acknowledged.
Though Gary admitted that that is “not one thing we wished to do,” he is involved about Leah’s well-being if one thing had been to occur to him.
“I do not see Amber being what Leah wants,” he mentioned. “I must know that if one thing occurs to me, Leah’s secure.”
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The lawyer mentioned the “timeline” can be about “60 days” to start out the adoption course of.
Later within the episode, Gary and Kristina sat down with Leah, and relayed the knowledge they obtained on the appointment.
Gary mentioned if “all the pieces was to go easily,” the adoption “may take three months.” Nonetheless, he instructed Leah that if “Amber contests then it may take like a yr, it may take longer.”
“I feel the purpose right here is to be sure you’re wholesome and joyful and brought care of and you’ve got what you need,” Gary mentioned.
Leah — who turned 16 in November — voiced her concern that Amber may make the method “tougher.”
“By then, it would take two years, after which at that time, there’s probably not no level even going by all the difficulty for it,” she mentioned.
In a confessional, Leah shared her ideas, admitting that she actually desires Kristina to undertake her, however she’s “scared” of how Amber may react.
“I need to be adopted as a result of Kristina’s been there my complete life,” the teenager mentioned of her stepmom, who married her dad in 2015. “I imply, I actually need to do it, however I am scared it will make Amber mad. I do not like being imply to folks.”
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“However I do not know, I simply really feel prefer it must be official, and it is greater than a bit of paper to me,” she added.
Leah famous her hesitation to her dad and stepmom, earlier than noting that she’s going to “give it some thought” earlier than she comes to a decision.
Gary recommended that Leah communicate to her therapist in regards to the state of affairs to see what shall be “emotionally be finest” for her and the “healthiest possibility.”
“I do know that your mother loves you,” he mentioned, “however for some cause, she would not know methods to present it.”
Gary opened up additional in a confessional, telling the MTV cameras, “If it wasn’t for Kristina being in her life as a lot as she was, Leah would not have a mother. It might be no person.”
Kristina, in the meantime, mentioned that Leah is “going to weigh her choices” and “resolve what route she desires to go,” stressing that she “will do no matter she desires.”
“Nothing will change the way in which that I really like that woman,” she mentioned, later assuring Leah, “I am not going anyplace. I really like you, and I am there for you, and we’ll get by it.”
New episodes of Teen Mother: The Subsequent Chapter air Thursdays on MTV.
