'Teen Mom' Amber Portwood's Estranged Daughter Avoids Drama With Reality Star

Amber Portwood is making progress with her daughter, Leah Shirley.

The troubled reality TV star, who rose to fame in the early-mid 2000s on MTV’s “16 & Pregnant, is making small steps every day to repair the relationship with her 13-year-old daughter.

On Tuesday, September 6, the series “Teen Mom: The Next Chapter,” premiered on MTV. It showed Amber attending her daughter’s 13th birthday.

“We’re working on our relationship and I’m being patient,” the recovering addict told cameras. “Last year, my daughter asked for space and I’m doing my best to be present for her while respecting her boundaries.”

In the episode, Amber gave her daughter a gift and the two exchanged a hug at the end of the party.

This is a big step for the estranged mother and daughter.

Amber’s ex, Gary Shirley, has had full custody of Leah since May 2016.

Following her birthday party, Leah told Gary, “I want us to be friendly together and not have any issues or anything. I don’t want to have any tension or for it to be awkward with her. I feel like we’re taking a big step. It is still awkward because I don’t know what to say most of the time, but we’re taking a big step into having something.”

Amber echoed a similar sentiment to Leah.

“It seems like we’re moving pretty close to where we need to get to. We’re moving at least. We are just trying still. We’re trying to really find where we’re at and where we want to be at,” she said.

While things are slowly getting better between Amber and her daughter, the reality TV star is still coming to terms with losing custody of her four-year-old son in July.

The Blast previously reported on Amber’s second custody battle and subsequent loss.

Amber shares her son, James, with ex-boyfriend, Andrew Glennon.

After a three-year battle in court, an Indiana judge decided in favor of Glennon having sole legal and primary custody of the four-year-old son, James.

Glennon is reportedly moving from Indiana to California after the legal win.

In a new report from E! News, Glennon is over the moon happy about his legal victory and has no qualms with rubbing it in Amber’s face.

He told the outlet, “We endured the nightmare. Now we get to live the dream.”

Part of the custody deal is that Glennon must “seek out and consider the mother's opinion before making any major decisions relating to the child's medical treatment, education and religion."

All hope for having a relationship with her son is not lost for Amber.

She’s been granted overnights with James that will be allowed every month, and her allotted time with her son will alternate between California and Indiana.

Just to give you some perspective, Indiana is a minimum of 1,809 miles away from California, and about a three-hour plane ride. Driving would be about 32-hours and 2,229.6 miles.

This kind of travel is a lot for a little child to endure every month.

After her custody loss, Amber issued a statement explaining how hard she worked to “better myself and improve my relationships with my children.”

"While I've always been candid about my past substance abuse and struggles with mental illness, a person should have the chance to redeem themselves and not be tethered to their problems from the past," she told E! News. "If your road has not been perfect, but you've worked hard to become a better, more stable and caring person today, keep moving forward as I will."