Amber Portwood , the troubled Teen Mom star, is currently serving a five year jail sentence after refusing to go through court-ordered rehab.
According to TODAY , Portwood’s jailbird status has put her daughter, Leah, in the care of her father Gary Shirley. Shirley recently discussed how he still finds it difficult to find the words to tell Leah when trying to explain her mother’s absence.
“I haven’t been able to say to her, ‘Mommy’s in jail,’” Gary recently told In Touch magazine . “When I tried to tell her Mommy’s in trouble, she got upset, so I’ve said, ‘Mommy’s at work,’ or ‘Mommy’s on vacation.’ ”
Shirley recently went on his Facebook to clear up any confusion on why he hasn’t been completely honest with Leah.
“I had to find out for my daughter amber and myself if it was best for Leah to go where her mommy is and visit. I learned that it is the best thing for Leah and Amber. All the paperwork is finally in order so yes soon we will be visiting her,” he wrote early Monday morning.
Things between Portwood and Shirley seem to have gotten a lot better.
“She’s doing a lot better,” he said in his Facebook post. “A lot of stuff has been cleared between us things have settled down. (Like muddy water) things are heading in the right direction. Thanks for support and in NOWAY was me not taking her to see her mom a control thing. JUST TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHAT’S BEST FOR LEAH.”
