Gary Shirley drops a bombshell during this week’s episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.
“I wouldn’t even give Kristina my seat on the couch, so there’s no way I’m givin’ her my daughter!”
During a guys’ trip with the other Teen Mom dads, Gary shocks everyone when he reveals his 15-year-old daughter Leah has stated she wants her stepmom Kristina to adopt her. Since Leah already has a mother in Amber Portwood, the news comes as a shock to Gary’s co-stars, who then discuss how Amber’s own actions have led to this happening.
“Leah is wanting to be adopted by Kristina,” Gary tells the guys, confirming that Kristina would adopt Leah “in a heartbeat.”
Gary goes on to tell the guys that Amber— who has had an off-and-on relationship with Leah over the years— has no idea that Leah wants Kristina to adopt her.
During a previous episode of ‘Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,’ fans watched as Amber basically ruined Leah’s birthday dinner by 1) calling Leah a “dick” 2) being late for the dinner but trying to gaslight everyone into thinking her butt had been in the restaurant long before it actually was 3) fighting with Gary as Leah cried.
Gary reveals that Leah has not seen Amber since her birthday (which is in November), and the other dads discuss how crazy it is that Amber is OK with not speaking to or seeing her kid for that long. Gary says that it wasn’t Leah’s choice to not speak to her mom, and hints that it was due to Amber not reaching out.
“Leah is kind of like, the damage is all done,” Gary reveals. “I think [their relationship] is salvageable, but what Leah would need is for her mom there, all the time.”
The other guys then discuss how it’s Amber’s responsibility to reach out to Leah and make sure she’s there for her as a mom.
“You know, there’s no other way to build trust. It’s consistency, consistency, consistency,” Tyler Baltierra states.
“Amber is the mother. Amber has to try,” Gary says. “It’s never going to be Leah’s fault if she’s not talking to you because, Amber, you’re the reason it’s this way in the first place.”
Gary goes on to say that he has always tried to portray Amber in a positive light for Leah.
“I didn’t want to throw Amber under the bus [with Leah] for so many years,” he said.
“Can’t we stop doing that?” Tyler says. “Can we stop worrying about throwing Amber under the bus?”
“Leah has now realized that she is not No. 1 in her mom’s eyes,” Cory Wharton adds. “Once she realizes that—”
“It’s a wrap!” Tyler says. “It’s done!”
Gary then brought up the fact that, thankfully, Leah has a mother figure in his wife, Kristina.
“She has other people that are there for her,” he said, adding, “Trust me, the best thing that ever happened to Leah was Kristina. Kristina is a loving parent.”
Later in the episode, Amber’s OG pals, Maci Bookout and Catelynn Lowell discuss the situation, with Maci calling out Gary for talking about Leah’s request to be adopted by Kristina.
“Gary shouldn’t be going around, telling people s**t like this!” Maci tells Cate.
Amber has remained basically silent on social media since her “missing fiancé” drama of last month. As The Ashley reported in June, Gary and Amber attended the wedding of Amber’s brother Shawn Portwood in North Carolina. Days later, Amber tearfully begged fans for prayers for her fiancé, whostormed out of their vacation rental without his phone and took off without contacting her or his family. The search for Gary lasted several days– with Gary even being officially listed as a missing person in North Carolina— before Gary called police to let them know he was “missing” by choice and wasn’t in danger.
Amber and Gary 2.0’s engagement officially ended in late June, after the former lovers finally communicated.
According to the @TeenMomFanz Instagram page, Amber’s “missing fiancé” drama caused Leah to block Amber on Instagram.
“The way things have played out on the show and in real time has immensely affected their relationship,” the Instagram account reported.
Amber has yet to react publicly to the clip.
Despite Kristina’s willingness to adopt Leah, it’s very unlikely that it would actually happen. According to the Indiana Department of Child Services, Amber would have to agree to the adoption before it could proceed.
“The consent of the child’s mother, if she is living, is required by law to complete an adoption,” the DCS’ website states.
As of press time, there does not appear to be any adoption-related filings in Indiana regarding Leah.