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“Teen Mom” star Amber Portwood’s daughter, Leah, is going to therapy to confront the “abandonment issues” from her strained relationship with her mom.
“I just think I have a lot of issues because of Amber in the experiences I’ve had,” the 16-year-old told her dad, Gary Shirley, during Thursday’s episode of “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,” per Us Weekly.
“I want to overcome that so I can be able to forgive her and just move on, and I think that it would help to have someone to guide me on how to forgive someone because it’s hard for me to do that.”
Although the teen acknowledged the challenges in Portwood’s life that have affected their mother-daughter relationship, Leah admitted that their estrangement has made her fearful of also losing her stepmom, Kristina Shirley.
“I do know that there’s a lot of things going on that makes it difficult for her to be able to be there for me,” Leah said in a confessional.
“I feel like it does affect me every day because I’m always scared that Kristina is going to leave me. I’m always scared that people are just going to leave me for no reason.”
Gary supported his daughter’s decision to seek support from a therapist.
“I just want you to have somebody to talk to that’s a safe space,” he told Leah. “I want you to be happy. I love you.”
Catelynn Baltierra’s husband, Tyler Baltierra, inspired Gary to have the conversation with Leah after Tyler said that getting professional help saved his life when he was younger.
Portwood — who first appeared on MTV’s “16 & Pregnant” in 2009 — previously opened up about her estrangement from Leah on the Feb. 6 episode of “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.”
“With my daughter, she doesn’t want to be around me,” Portwood said, per Us Weekly.
“I’ve never been a mom that didn’t care. Just a f–ked up mom.”
Portwood, 34, briefly reunited with her daughter last year during a family BBQ that in an August 2024 episode.
“This was an amazing birthday. I had a lot of fun, honestly. I miss you guys so I want to start doing this more often if we can,” Portwood said on the show, according to Us Weekly.
“I’d love to spend more time with you [Leah] and all of you guys. I love you guys. I love you butt head and I miss you.”
Portwood also shares son James, who was born in May 2018, with ex Andrew Glennon. She lost custody to Glennon in July 2022.
The mother of two has been open about her bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder diagnoses in the past.
