Teen Mom’s Gary Shirley holds back tears as he testifies in Amber Portwood’s nasty custody battle with ex Andrew Glennon
TEEN Mom star Gary Shirley has testified in his baby mama Amber Portwood's nasty custody battle with her ex Andrew Glennon.
In audio of the explosive custody hearing exclusively obtained by The Sun, Gary took the stand to defend Amber, with whom he shares his oldest daughter Leah, 13.
As The Sun exclusively reported, Amber's second baby daddy Andrew, 37, wants to move with their son James, 3, to California, which the mother of two, an Indiana native, is fighting to prevent.
Gary- who currently has a positive relationship with Amber despite a volatile past- testified for nearly an hour in Indiana court on March 3.
The doting dad became emotional as he recalled Amber's stint in prison during her former battle with drugs.
The Teen Mom dad told the judge: ";Amber is a different person now than she was with me, and she is a different person than she was even a year and a half ago."
"I do notice more positive things. Actually, I am very proud of her. It's a great responsibility that she has."
Amber Portwood
"It's a different bond with James than she had with Leah," Gary added, sounding like he was holding back tears.
";Because when Leah was that age, she was in prison and some other things going on with her, and I think that the person she is today is not the person she was then.
"I think that was a little hard for Leah. That was a hard thing for Leah, seeing how well they get along," the MTV star added of Amber's bond with James.
Amber served 17 months in prison on drug charges until her release in December 2013, when Leah was just 4 years old.
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In the emotional testimony, Gary also claimed Amber and James visit his home with wife Kristina a couple of times a month to see Leah.
Gary said during the visits, Amber and James appear to have a very good relationship.
"They cuddle, they've made cookies, they play with his toys. In the summer, they go play outside," he said.
He said that James is a very well-behaved child, and Amber has never lost her temper with him.
"I've never seen her do anything to James that would concern me.
"There's nothing but love there."
During the testimony, the Teen Mom star said that he also was aware of Amber's multiple medical diagnoses, and insisted her mental health she has improved drastically since they were together.
"I think a lot of it was she learned how to handle her herself.
"I don't think she was diagnosed properly for a long time.
"I'm assuming there was a lot of trial and error to try to pinpoint the issue and taking the meds correctly."
Gary said if Andrew were permitted to relocate James to California, it would impact the toddler's relationship with his sister Leah tremendously.
ANDREW'S BIG PLAN
Andrew currently lives with their son in a home Amber owns in Indiana, while she is living in a rental nearby.
During his own March 2 testimony exclusively revealed by The Sun, Andrew was asked about the proposed parenting time schedule for Amber.
He said he would allow her visitation "three times a month for 10 hours at a time."
He also asked for no overnights, and that her parenting time be applied only in California.
During the hearing, Amber's ex also testified that he was unable to find a job in Indiana, but that he had three job offers on the table in California.
There was one real estate job offer, and the other two offers were sales-based, which were submitted to the court as evidence.
During the cross-examination, Andrew admitted that he had not taken his real estate exam yet.
CUSTODY WAR
Amber has been embroiled in a heated custody battle with Andrew over their toddler son for years.
In addition to fights over money and visitation time, Andrew has forbidden Amber from featuring James on her MTV reality show, claiming the child has a right to privacy.
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Andrew was granted primary physical custody of James after Amber was arrested for domestic violence against him in July 2019.
The exes currently share joint legal custody, allowing the TV star three unsupervised visits a week.
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