Credit: Instagram
Jenelle Evans took to her TikTok account on Tuesday to explain why she allowed her 15-year-old son, Jace Evans, to move to Florida to be with his dad, Andrew Lewis, despite Andrew’s lack of involvement in Jace’s childhood.
Just after reuniting with Farrah Abraham, 33, near her new home in Las Vegas after feuding with the former Teen Mom cast member for years, the 33-year-old Teen Mom 2 alum opened up about her son’s mental health as she recalled an emotional call she made to Andrew in hopes of having him help her with their child and his struggles.
“My son has been dealing with mental health disorders since he’s been 10 years old. He was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 10, and most recently, in 2023, he was also diagnosed with major depressive disorder along with his ADHD and defiant disorder, or ODD,” Jenelle began in her May 13 post. “Incidents started occurring with my son when he was 10 years old. My whole family knew this. It was a family secret, and we tried to keep the privacy of my son.”
After Jace started running away, Jenelle’s mother, Barbara Evans, temporarily gained custody of the child. However, she ultimately “couldn’t handle” the child, and in 2023, after things got “so bad,” Child Protective Services (CPS) got involved and sent Jace to his aunt’s house, where he “continued to act out.”
Once CPS dropped the case and gave custody back to Jenelle, she chose to move to Sin City in hopes of a “fresh start” after the chaos of her past relationship with estranged husband David Eason, 36.
“With defiant disorder, it’s very hard to deal with. Kids act out on purpose because they want attention. They have no remorse. They have no empathy for what they did,” Jenelle continued. “We never wanted to put it in front of the media and explain it because it was Jace’s privacy. Now we’ve gotten to the point where it’s happened too many times, multiple incidents for years and years and years, and something had to be done.”
Credit: Instagram
Feeling hopeless, Jenelle put in a call to Andrew in hopes of helping Jace and keeping the rest of her children safe. This includes son Kaiser, 10, whom she shares with ex-boyfriend Nathan Griffith, and daughter Ensley, 8, whom she shares with David.
“I feel like when you’re coparenting, if both sides of the family can come together to help solve these issues before they turn into [adults], it’s just really important. I put all the drama aside and said, ‘Let’s just do this,’” she revealed, confirming that Jace will be living with both Andrew and his mom.
“You guys are looking at it as a negative situation, but everyone behind closed doors is looking at it as a positive thing for him. So you can say all you want. You can say I’m not taking care of my kids. Being a mother is doing the best interest for your child, and I am doing the best interest for my child,” she concluded.
As for Jenelle’s recent reunion with Farrah, the Teen Mom alums were also joined by Ashley Jones as they put their differences aside over tacos at Lucia, a Mexican restaurant in Las Vegas, earlier this month.
According to TMZ, Jenelle was the one who reached out, congratulating Farrah on the success of her comedy debut in New York City.
As fans may recall, Jenelle called for someone to do a “welfare check” on Farrah’s daughter, Sophia, in 2013, claiming Farrah seemed “very unstable,” and Farrah responded by signaling her messy relationship with David.
But that seems to be water under the bridge these days.
Sharing a group photo from the event they attended together in Las Vegas, Jenelle wrote, “Thank you @safenestlv for inviting us to your event! It was beautiful and I love what your organization stands for! If you’re in need of help in a domestic violence situation and living in Las Vegas please don’t hesitate to contact them!”
During the outing, as noted by TMZ, Jenelle and Farrah reportedly chatted about parenting, Jenelle’s new life in Las Vegas, and their plans for summer.
