Why Amber Portwood Has Hope for Fractured Relationship with Daughter Leah

On Thursday’s new hour of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter, Portwood was seen rolling out of bed at 11:13 am, reflecting on her recent situation.

“I thought I was already dark and deep and in a hole from what happened to me, the incident in North Carolina and him leaving me in the mountains,” she said, referring to ex Gary Wayt abandoning her by totally disappearing.

“But when I found out about my daughter saying she wanted to be adopted, it took over everything. I was really in bed for four months. I realized I just needed my mommy,” she said, as video of one of her social media rages about the Leah situation was shown on camera. On recent episodes of the show, Portwood’s daughter Leah, whom she shares with ex Gary Shirley, has indicated she would like her stepmother, Kristina, to adopt her.

Amber was then seen calling her mom, Tonya, as they made plans to meet up later for a meal.

“I woke up feeling hopeless, like why am I awake,” she shared, before opening up about her “tumultuous” relationship with her mother when she was Leah’s age.

“Me and my mom were fighting so bad, I had to leave the house and live with my father,” she said, reflecting on how things have changed for the better recently. “I’ve seen my mom three times these last few weeks, when I hadn’t seen her in almost a year.”

When the pair met up for lunch, Portwood said she had a “heavy” morning, adding that, thankfully, when she “wakes up crying, now all I do is call you.”

Tonya said she would always be there for her daughter, even though she didn’t totally “understand” what she was going through, especially as it relates to her mental health. Though Amber said she would like her mom to join her in therapy, so the therapist could go over her diagnoses — which include bipolar and borderline personality disorders — her mother said she thought her medication should be “straightened out” by now, adding, “It’s gone on too long.”

“There’s no cure. I’m not just bipolar. He’ll explain it to you,” said Amber, as she struggled to explain it herself.

“My life circumstances and things with Leah, I’m scared she’s never going to come around. I’m scared that’s not gonna happen,” she then added, as Tonya told her she can’t try and “force” a relationship with her. Amber’s mother also said she still hears regularly from Leah, who texts her saying “Good night” and “I love you.” That revelation seemed to really affect Amber, who started to cry.

Despite things still being fractured between her and her daughter, Amber ended the episode with a bit of optimism.

“I see how my relationship with my mom was completely tumultuous and today I’m with my mom, I love my mom so much,” she said to the camera. “This is why I have hope with Leah. It’s just gonna take me a while.”

Teen Mom: The Next Chapter airs Thursdays on MTV.