Teen Mom‘s Amber Portwood is gearing up to fight baby daddy Gary Shirley for joint custody of their 7-year-old daughter, Leah.
“I’ve been out [of jail] for three years, and I’m sober,” Portwood, 25, says in a preview for the new season. “I want joint custody of my daughter.”
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Portwood is now engaged — but, according to her ex, her new fiancé has seven kids that “she doesn’t even know about.”
Shirley’s priority? “Leah needs to be raised in a stable, steady home,” Shirley, 29, told Teen Mom cameras. Chances are that Portwood agrees, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be plenty of classic Teen Mom drama as Amber and Gary work out a custody arrangement.
Portwood opted to take jail time in place of rehab and was sentenced to five years in prison on charges of drug possession combined with previous charges, including a charge of domestic violence directed at Shirley. Portwood was able to get her sentence reduced for good behavior, thanks in part to the completion of a substance abuse course. She was released from Rockville Correctional Facility in November 2013. Shirley retained full custody of their daughter while Portwood was behind bars.
Portwood spoke of Leah in a letter she wrote her brother as she considered her prison sentence: “I’m really scared I’m going to prison. I don’t know what I’ll do. All I think about is Leah and how she needs a good role model. If I can get out, I can really show her what a good mother is.”
Three years later, Portwood is looking to make her goal a reality.
Don’t miss the drama on the new season of Teen Mom, premiering on MTV on Jan. 4, 2016, at 10/9c.
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