Why Gary Shirley’s Lawyer Believes Amber Portwood ‘Deserted’ Leah

On Thursday’s episode of Teen Mother: The Subsequent Chapter, Gary met with a lawyer to debate the potential for Leah getting adopted by his spouse, Kristina, after his daughter expressed how she needs to be adopted by her stepmom amid her estrangement from Amber.

And based on the legal professional, they’ve “actually a superb case for adoption.”

Earlier than Gary and Kristina went to go to the legal professional, Trina Saunders, Gary shared his ideas and issues in a confessional.

“With the potential for Kristina adopting Leah, I am completely on board. It isn’t as straightforward as signing a verify or snapping your fingers; there’s quite a bit concerned,” stated Gary, who was granted full custody of Leah in 2011.

“We’ve got to go to court docket. That places a number of stress on her,” he continued. “After which, what if her mother simply impulsively begins to take her, you already know? 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 harm,” Gary added. “And the particular person [who’s] hurting probably the most proper now could be Leah. I am ensuring my child does not endure.”

Whereas it was already identified to viewers that Amber and Leah have been estranged, Gary advised the legal professional that Amber has solely seen Leah “4 days” within the “previous 12 months.”

When Saunders requested about little one assist, Gary stated that it is not “enforced via the court docket,” and claimed Amber is “behind” on funds.

And based on Saunders, within the court docket’s eyes, Amber’s absence in Leah’s life is taken into account “abandonment.”

“As a result of she’s not had any important contact together with her mom over the past six months, that is deemed as abandonment,” the lawyer advised Gary and Kristina.

“I feel that adoption could be your best choice, as a result of in an adoption that severs that parent-child relationship that she has together with her mom, and you’d change into her mom, and also you additionally could be positioned on the delivery certificates as her mom,” Saunders stated to Kristina.

“But when we will 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 court docket, they’d “have the ability to present” that Amber has “not been” in Leah’s life, “she’s not offered for her financially, [and] she’s not had important contact together with her in over six months.”

“I feel you have got a extremely good case for adoption,” she said.

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 stated. “I have to know that if one thing occurs to me, Leah’s protected.”

The legal professional stated the “timeline” could be about “60 days” to begin the adoption course of.

Later within the episode, Gary and Kristina sat down with Leah, and relayed the knowledge they acquired on the appointment.

Gary stated if “every little thing was to go easily,” the adoption “might take three months.” Nevertheless, he advised Leah that if “Amber contests then it might take like a 12 months, it might take longer.”

“I feel the objective right here is to be sure you’re wholesome and glad and brought care of and you’ve got what you need,” Gary stated.

Leah — who turned 16 in November — voiced her concern that Amber might make the method “tougher.”

“By then, it would take two years, after which at that time, there’s probably not no level even going via all the difficulty for it,” she stated.

In a confessional, Leah shared her ideas, admitting that she actually needs Kristina to undertake her, however she’s “scared” of how Amber might react.

“I need to be adopted as a result of Kristina’s been there my complete life,” the teenager stated of her stepmom, who married her dad in 2015. “I imply, I actually need to do it, however I am scared it might make Amber mad. I do not like being imply to individuals.”

“However I do not know, I simply really feel prefer it ought to 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 steered that Leah converse to her therapist concerning the state of affairs to see what shall be “emotionally be greatest” for her and the “healthiest choice.”

“I do know that your mother loves you,” he stated, “however for some purpose, she does not know the best way 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 could be no person.”

Kristina, in the meantime, stated that Leah is “going to weigh her choices” and “resolve what route she needs to go,” stressing that she “will do no matter she needs.”

“Nothing will change the way in which that I really like that woman,” she stated, later assuring Leah, “I am not going anyplace. I really like you, and I am there for you, and we’ll get via it.”

New episodes of Teen Mother: The Subsequent Chapter air Thursdays on MTV.