Amber Portwood Asks Serious Favor From Gary Shirley About Custody

Amber Portwood Gary Shirley

MTV "Teen Mom" Amber Portwood leaned on her ex, Gary Shirley, when it came to her custody hearing regarding her son, 4-year-old James.

“Teen Mom” Amber Portwood leaned on her ex, Gary Shirley, when it came to her custody hearing regarding her son, 4-year-old James.

Shirley and Portwood have one child together, 13-year-old Leah, and Portwood and her ex-fiance, Andrew Glennon, have James together.

Portwood lost custody in 2019 after a domestic violence incident occurred. Portwood pleaded guilty to two felony charges and was sentenced to three years of probation, which she completed.

In an attempt to regain custody of James, Portwood asked Shirley to testify on her behalf.

“The court case for my custody agreement with James is coming up and my lawyer had asked me to find someone to testify on my behalf so I asked Gary,” Portwood said on “Teen Mom.” “Gary and I are in a good place so I hope he will do it for me.”

Shirley vowed to tell the truth on the stand. “I don’t mind but, you know, I can’t lie or nothing,” he said. “There’s good and bad, you know.”


Portwood Wanted Shirley To Tell The Truth

Portwood wanted Shirley to be the one to defend her because he would be honest, not in spite of it.

“It’s good coming out of your mouth, cause obviously you’re gonna be honest and they’ll see that,” she said. “Hell, I’ve done way worse to your a**. I don’t even know how you deal with half the stuff I did back in the day.”

Shirley asked Portwood how he should prepare for their day in court.

“I think what they’re going to ask is more so what you experienced and I know that me and Jame just having a really good relationship and there’s only so many people that get to see it — and that’s family,” she said.

“I appreciate you honestly doing this for me,” she continued. “This is painful, thinking about James being away from me. I’m scared.”


The Judge Ruled Against Portwood

In real-time, an Indiana judge awarded full physical and primary custody of James to Glennon. That means Glennon could move from Indiana to California like he wanted to after he split from Portwood in 2019.

Portwood was heartbroken over the court’s decision.

“I’ve worked so hard to better myself and improve my relationships with my children,” she said.

Portwood has a history of substance abuse and five mental illnesses and she thinks the court used her past against her.

“I’ve worked so hard to better myself and improve my relationships with my children,” she said on Instagram. “A person should have a chance to redeem themselves and not be tethered to their issues from the past.”

“People who’ve done therapy, and taken classes, and made efforts to change should not continue to be punished for past mistakes,” she continued. “I’ve spent years rebuilding my bridges and did everything that was required of me, including completing 21 negative drug tests and multiple psychological evaluations.”

It wasn’t immediately clear if Portwood was still sober. According to The Sun, an Indiana court said her drug test results were locked as of August 22, even though Glennon was still submitting negative test results.

To find out what happens next, don’t miss “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter” when it airs Tuesdays at 8 p.m. ET on MTV.

Read More
,