‘Teen Mom' star Leah Shirley shares why she wants her stepmom to adopt her
'Teen Mom' star Leah Shirley has a big decision to make as she explores her future.
The 16-year-old daughter of former couple Amber Portwood and Gary Shirley, who first appeared on '16 and Pregnant' in 2009, has expressed her desire to be adopted by her stepmom, Kristina Shirley.
But she — and her family — know what that process might look like.
'If everything was to go smoothly, after filing paperwork, which you would have to sign some stuff, too, it could take three months,' Gary Shirley told his daughter on the March 13 episode of 'Teen Mom: The Next Chapter.'
'If Amber contests, then it could take, like, a year. It could take longer,' he continued, per E! News.
Leah Shirley, who is fully-aware that Portwood 'might try to do stuff and make it harder,' argued that it might not be worth the trouble, but still believes it's worth considering.
'I want to be adopted because Kristina's been there my whole life,' Leah Shirley said in the episode. 'I just feel like it should be official. And it's more than a piece of paper to me.'
'So, I don't know. I'll have to think about it,' she later added.
Gary Shirley, who split with Portwood in 2011 before marrying and welcoming a daughter with Kristina Shirley in 2015, advised his eldest daughter to mull over her options with her therapist.
He also reaffirmed that he and Kristina Shirley will stand by her side, no matter what.
'I know that your mom loves you, but for some reason she doesn't know how to show it. But I want you to know that we're here to help you and to be with you,' he said — referring to himself as her 'ride or die.'
While exploring their options with a lawyer, Gary Shirley argued that Portwood rarely makes an effort with their daughter and said she has only seen Leah Shirley four days in the past year.
He knows what the adoption would mean to his daughter, but he also knows what it would mean to him.
'If something happens to me, I don't see Amber being what Leah needs,' he said in the episode. 'I need to know if something happens to me, Leah is safe.'
The lawyer contended that Leah Shirley has faced abandonment from Portwood and advised that adoption would be the family's best option.
'Because in an adoption, that severs that parent-child relationship that she has with her mother,' the attorney said, per People.
'You would become her mother and you would also be placed on the birth certificate as her mother,' the attorney continued.
While it's unclear what the path forward looks like, Kristina Shirley says it won't change how they act as a family — and won't change the way they love and care for one another.
'Leah's going to weigh her options, talk to her therapist and decide what route she wants to go,' she said.
'I will do whatever she wants. Nothing will change the way that I love that girl,' she added.
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