After more than a decade, Barbara Evans has officially signed over custody of Jace to her daughter, former Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans.
It’s the beginning of a new chapter in Jenelle’s life as she’s now officially reunited with her firstborn son, Jace, 13.
As Monsters and Critics previously reported, a court hearing was held in North Carolina to modify Jace’s custody agreement, per legal documents obtained by The Ashley’s Reality Roundup.
Now, Jenelle has confirmed that the custody modification has been granted and that Jace — whom she shares with her ex, Andrew Lewis — is back in her care.
“My mom and I decided together to grant full custody back to me because we want to build our relationship back as mother and daughter,” Jenelle told Us Weekly.
Jenelle added that Barbara agreed that it was time for Jace to “be back with his siblings and living with a mother and father.”
Barbara Evans signs over full custody of Jace to her daughter Jenelle Evans
Jenelle also told the outlet that Barbara felt Jace needed to be around a “father figure” so he could learn “boy things” and have “man talk.”
“We want to all get along for the sake of the children and, like I said before, building back our relationship as mother and daughter,” the mom of three added.
Jenelle and Barbara officially signed the paperwork on Thursday, March 16, and as Jenelle put it, “… it’s a done deal!”
Jenelle gets emotional as she shares the news on social media
Jenelle took to social media over the weekend to share the news. On Instagram, she shared a video of herself signing the paperwork. The song Stay With Me by Sam Smith played in the tearful Reel.
As the former MTV star returned to her car to film herself, Jenelle was overcome with emotion. Tears streamed down her face while she held up the paperwork in front of the camera, and as she exclaimed, “It’s done!” she began to sob.
Jenelle captioned the post, “#MyHappyEnding , ITS OFFICIAL! Thanks everyone for the support! Words cant descibe how happy i truly am. Our family is complete now! Thank you mom. ❤️?”
Over on TikTok, Jenelle shared the same video footage with the same caption.
Jenelle and Barbara’s rocky relationship played out on Teen Mom 2
Jenelle and Barbara’s relationship was a rocky one, as Teen Mom 2 viewers watched for years. Jenelle signed over custody of Jace to Barbara in 2009 when she was just 17 years old.
Most of Barbara and Jenelle’s arguments stemmed from Jenelle abandoning her motherly duties while refusing to give up her hard-partying ways.
In 2021, Jenelle shared a tweet explaining why she gave Barbara temporary custody of Jace while she was still a teenager. After being accused by critics of choosing drugs over being a mother to Jace, Jenelle fired back.
Jenelle tweeted, “… it had nothing to do with drugs and everything to do with being a fearful little girl.”
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