Amber Portwood Gets Emotional About Her Strained Relationship With Daughter Leah, More ‘Teen Mom: Family Reunion’ Revelations

Credit: MTV

Amber Portwood Gets Emotional About Her Strained Relationship With Daughter Leah, More 'Teen Mom: Family Reunion' Revelations

All in the family. Amber Portwood, Leah Messer and more of MTV's biggest stars opened up about their ups and downs as parents during the Tuesday, January 25, episode of Teen Mom: Family Reunion. The Indiana native got honest about where she stands with her eldest daughter, Leah, 13, after encouraging her costars to put their children in therapy as early as possible. She called finding professional help the "best thing to f--king do" for a kid of any age and was overcome with emotion when asked how things are going with her teenager. "Amber's hurting, but she's hurting for her kids," Cheyenne Floyd said during a confessional. "I hope that Leah one day is able to watch this and able to see how much her mom really loves her." Sitting down with the entire group, Amber noted that her perspective on the tense situation has changed over time and that she no longer thinks it's fair to use her mental health battles as an "excuse" when it comes to parenting. [jwplayer MQAtGaV0-zhNYySv2] "Guess what? There's so many f--king people [who are] depressed," she told the group. "There's other people with bipolar [disorder] that still are depressed, [but] they can still pick up their kids and can still do their thing. That's the one thing, I think, that's changed more than anything is not making excused to [Leah] anymore." Ashley Jones praised Amber's vulnerability, telling the camera that every parent is simply trying to do the best they can with the circumstances they've been given. "No one's a 'good mom,'" she added. "You know, we're all just trying to figure it out." Earlier this month, Amber exclusively told Us Weekly that her visits with Leah are "actually going a lot better" after giving her child "space" for nearly two years. "People weren't understanding what I was doing ... that I wasn't just stepping away from her," the Never Too Late author said. "I always let her know that I was there. I would come over even if she was upstairs, and I would just let her do her thing. At least she knew that I was there for her. ... I'm happy with what's going on, and I'm not going to push the issue. It's kind of a beautiful thing." The 16 and Pregnant alum shares Leah with ex Gary Shirley and is also the mother of son James, 3, with ex Andrew Glennon. She initially hinted at struggling with her firstborn in an April 2021 Instagram post and the mother-daughter duo's strained relationship has since become a central focus of the MTV reality series. While Amber received support from her fellow Teen Mom stars for sharing her past struggles, Leah got advice about following her heart. The mother of three opened up about her budding romance with boyfriend Jaylan Mobley, admitting that she was "scared" that he was a little bit younger than her — and doesn't have kids of his own. "I've gotten a lot better with the trust issues [I have]," she said during a confessional. "But I know that it's still there. ... I think [it] stems from my childhood, my dad being absent and truly not knowing what love is from a man. I also have three daughters that I'm responsible for, so letting just anyone into our lives is not gonna happen. Leah, for her part, shares twins Aliannah and Aleeah, 12, with ex-husband Corey Simms and Adalynn, 8, with ex Jeremy Calvert. While Leah appeared somewhat uncertain about whether she'd finally found The One, her costar Ashley encouraged her to keep an open mind. "Maybe I have attracted someone who's great," Leah said. "But at the same time, I'm a little guarded. I'm a little scared. But he's like, 'It's fine. We're gonna work through it.' ... I know it's f--ked up but how do I fix it?" Teen Mom: Family Reunion airs on MTV Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Teen Mom: Girls' Night. Scroll down to see which stars hit a roadblock in coparenting and who wants to have another baby: [podcast_block]

Credit: MTV

Amber Portwood Gets Emotional About Her Strained Relationship With Daughter Leah, More 'Teen Mom: Family Reunion' Revelations

All in the family. Amber Portwood, Leah Messer and more of MTV's biggest stars opened up about their ups and downs as parents during the Tuesday, January 25, episode of Teen Mom: Family Reunion. The Indiana native got honest about where she stands with her eldest daughter, Leah, 13, after encouraging her costars to put their children in therapy as early as possible. She called finding professional help the "best thing to f--king do" for a kid of any age and was overcome with emotion when asked how things are going with her teenager. "Amber's hurting, but she's hurting for her kids," Cheyenne Floyd said during a confessional. "I hope that Leah one day is able to watch this and able to see how much her mom really loves her." Sitting down with the entire group, Amber noted that her perspective on the tense situation has changed over time and that she no longer thinks it's fair to use her mental health battles as an "excuse" when it comes to parenting. [jwplayer MQAtGaV0-zhNYySv2] "Guess what? There's so many f--king people [who are] depressed," she told the group. "There's other people with bipolar [disorder] that still are depressed, [but] they can still pick up their kids and can still do their thing. That's the one thing, I think, that's changed more than anything is not making excused to [Leah] anymore." Ashley Jones praised Amber's vulnerability, telling the camera that every parent is simply trying to do the best they can with the circumstances they've been given. "No one's a 'good mom,'" she added. "You know, we're all just trying to figure it out." Earlier this month, Amber exclusively told Us Weekly that her visits with Leah are "actually going a lot better" after giving her child "space" for nearly two years. "People weren't understanding what I was doing ... that I wasn't just stepping away from her," the Never Too Late author said. "I always let her know that I was there. I would come over even if she was upstairs, and I would just let her do her thing. At least she knew that I was there for her. ... I'm happy with what's going on, and I'm not going to push the issue. It's kind of a beautiful thing." The 16 and Pregnant alum shares Leah with ex Gary Shirley and is also the mother of son James, 3, with ex Andrew Glennon. She initially hinted at struggling with her firstborn in an April 2021 Instagram post and the mother-daughter duo's strained relationship has since become a central focus of the MTV reality series. While Amber received support from her fellow Teen Mom stars for sharing her past struggles, Leah got advice about following her heart. The mother of three opened up about her budding romance with boyfriend Jaylan Mobley, admitting that she was "scared" that he was a little bit younger than her — and doesn't have kids of his own. "I've gotten a lot better with the trust issues [I have]," she said during a confessional. "But I know that it's still there. ... I think [it] stems from my childhood, my dad being absent and truly not knowing what love is from a man. I also have three daughters that I'm responsible for, so letting just anyone into our lives is not gonna happen. Leah, for her part, shares twins Aliannah and Aleeah, 12, with ex-husband Corey Simms and Adalynn, 8, with ex Jeremy Calvert. While Leah appeared somewhat uncertain about whether she'd finally found The One, her costar Ashley encouraged her to keep an open mind. "Maybe I have attracted someone who's great," Leah said. "But at the same time, I'm a little guarded. I'm a little scared. But he's like, 'It's fine. We're gonna work through it.' ... I know it's f--ked up but how do I fix it?" Teen Mom: Family Reunion airs on MTV Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET, followed by Teen Mom: Girls' Night. Scroll down to see which stars hit a roadblock in coparenting and who wants to have another baby: [podcast_block]

Credit: MTV

Amber's Relationship With Daughter Leah

"There's no excuse," Amber said. "I wasn't sober. I had to get sober. ... When I went [to prison], I finally got sober and I was seeing Leah but then I had to avoid seeing all these men. There's no excuse."

For Amber, taking "the accountability" for her actions was a challenge. "I honestly thought that everything that I was doing was fine. I was trying to keep Leah away from all of the bad s--t back in the day. I was trying to do this, trying to do that. And then I was like, 'Well, I could have went over there still though. Why didn't I go over there?' Like, 'I could have still did this, I could have still picked her up.' ... My depression, I used that [as an] excuse to not do anything."

Credit: Courtesy Briana DeJesus/Instagram

Briana and Brittany DeJesus Talk Father Figures

While hanging out with their costars, sisters Briana and Brittany reveal that they found out "not too long ago" that they have different fathers. "I had my father from [when I was] zero to 16," Briana said. "And then he just [left]."

Briana said she didn't agree that her mother's move to keep information about their fathers from them was beneficial, adding, "How is that protecting us by lying to us? ... I could understand if Brittany's father was still alive and he was a bad person ... but Brittany's dad passed away before [she] even turned [3 years old]. So why even keep that a secret? ... I wonder about my father every day."

Brittany, for her part, said she felt like her world was "turned upside down" after discovering the family secret. "Every day I struggle with trying to figure out who I am," she continued.

Credit: Broadimage/Shutterstock

Does Cheyenne Want a 3rd Kid?

When Zach Davis sat down with Gary to talk about their respective families, he confessed that he's "sure" he and Cheyenne will end up having a third child. "We got it locked down," Zach teased.

Credit: MTV

Leah's 'Passionate' Relationship With Jaylan

The West Virginia native opened up about her new beau Jaylan, who she went Instagram official with in September 2021. "The chemistry is there," she tells Ashley. "The connection is there. We have a lot of fun together. He's very career-driven. He has long-term goals [and] short-term goals planned out. He's very intelligent. ... He's thoughtful, he's passionate."

When asked about whether she trusts where the relationship is going, Leah admitted that she sometimes hesitates even though she knows she deserves a happy ending. "I'm a little bit like, 'Is this real? Are you real? Are you really compassionate? ... Are you gonna stay this way? 'Cause what happens if you don't?"

Credit: Courtesy Briana DeJesus/Instagram; Courtey Devoin Austin/Instagram

Briana and Devoin Austin Get Heated

After Devoin hints that he might be ready to propose to girlfriend Jasmin, he and Briana sat down with a therapist to talk about how they could improve their communication for the sake of Nova. Devoin argued that their daughter is probably "confused" about where her parents stand and said he's worried the little one will someday think he "abandoned" her.

While Devoin believed his ex finds him to be trustworthy in coparenting, Briana disagreed. "There's a lot of times that you didn't [see Nova]," she said. "The thing is, like, if you say you're gonna do something, you should stick to it. ... Nova's like, 'Where's my dad?' And then I'm the one that has to explain to her why you didn't make it."

Devoin went on to allege that Briana hasn't always been honest about their relationship on the show. "How do I deal with that?" he asked. "I was never given a chance."

Credit: Courtesy Gary Shirley/Instagram

Amber's Ex Gary on How She's Grown

Amber noted that she felt lucky she and her ex could "authentically be ourselves around each other and talk" in a healthy way after their split. Gary, for his part, confessed that he was proud of the changes Amber's made in her life.

"I've seen Amber grow a little bit into a different person," he said. "I know she's been learning some skills from her psychiatrist and people that she talks to."