She's completely heartbroken
Although we tend know what’s going on in the Teen Mom cast members’ lives in real time thanks to social media and gossip sleuths, it often isn’t until an episode of the show airs that we get the full picture. That’s when the girls open up about what’s on their mind during the events that we see play out during the hiatus months. These explanations help fans see what’s really going on in the Mom‘s heads.
The result of Jenelle Evans and her mother Barbara’s custody battle over Jace was well-known in the Teen Mom fan community several months ago, but it wasn’t until the most recent episode that we got Jenelle’s full reaction to the decision ― including her reaction to losing Jace.
Regardless of what you think of Jenelle, no mother wants to lose her child, and her response to the court’s decision was truly heartbreaking.
Credit: MTV
Relationship Ruined
Credit: DFree/Bigstock
Barbara Evans has had custody of Jenelle’s son, Jace, for years now. Although Jenelle sees him and spends time with him, Barbara is the primary custody holder. A few months ago, Jenelle sought to change that status.
She and Barbara underwent a long and arduous custody battle during which Jenelle tried to get back full custody of her first child. She wanted to finally be the primary caretaker of her son after years of semi-estrangement. Unfortunately, as many readers know, that’s not what happened.
Instead of receiving full custody, Barbara will still be the primary custodian. However, Jenelle did get some wins: she will have court-sanctioned access to Jace every other weekend as well as some time during holidays and summer. She will also be able to access his school and medical records.
“I had nothing in place, so now visitation is in place,” Jenelle said to her fiance David during the episode. “When I say I will be getting Jace, I will be getting Jace.”
Needless to say, Jenelle had plenty of thoughts on her mother. “I’m not forgiving my mom for this, and I will never forgive her for this,” she said. “I will not consider her as my mom anymore, and I will consider her as Barbara now. She has completely ruined our f**king relationship.” She also revealed that she would not be inviting Barbara to her wedding to David.
No Words
Credit: MTV via Reddit @gingerbrave
Of course, this also affects her relationship with her son, Jace. Even though Jenelle often puts on a hard exterior, a shot on Teen Mom 2 revealed a conversation that she had with one of her producers, Larry. “Actually making me cry now and that takes a lot,” Larry texted Jenelle. “It’s why I could not even do what Heather does every day. Don’t you see a world where he needs you and your mom?”
Jenelle responded, “My mom needs barbara obviously… that’s his mom. I’m not his mom anymore after today. My mom won.” Larry replied, “Heartbreaking. I have no words.”
Mixed Feelings
Source: Instagram @j_evans1219
Even though this was a heartbreaking moment for Jenelle, fans had mixed feelings, and didn’t seem as torn up as Larry was. Reddit user NamasteNamaste wrote, “The last line really says it all…….’My mom won’. Ughhhhh. She will never learn that this isn’t a game. There is no winner. Every single person in their custody case has “lost” —- her, Barbara, and Jace. Jace does not live any easy, carefree life and never will – whether he is with Barbara or her. JACE is who I feel bad for. Had Jenelle stepped up and handled her duties as a mother, none of them would be in this situation now.”
Others flat-out stood up for Babs. User pwoderdonut31 wrote, “She feels like he needs to be with her because she’s the birth mom. People say what they do about Barbara and to be honest we will never truly know what went on or didn’t go on before MTV came along. But I think she is a d**n good Grandma for taking custody of 3 trouble grandsons and trying to undo whatever mistakes she may have made in the past and I respect the hell out of her for that.”
Still, some took Jenelle’s side. User gingeracha wrote, “So I can see where Jenelle is coming from. She knows that the more time Jace spends with Barb the more the court uses that as a reason to keep him with her. It was smart the way Barb set all those little goals for Jenelle and pretended to be willing to give Jace back because it made it harder for Jenelle to get custody when she realized her mom had lied. If Jenelle didn’t get custody this time she probably never will because what more can she do….. Fight for custody when he’s almost 18 and Barb has had primary custody even longer? I can’t imagine how heartbreaking it is to know your mother is keeping your child and refuses to give you custody.”
Read more about Jenelle and Barbara’s custody battle here.
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