It’s official.
And, for Jenelle Evans, it’s officially fun. Not to mention life-changing.
On Saturday, the Teen Moms alum confirmed that she now has custody of her teenage son, Jace… after more than a decade of the boy living under the care of Jenelle’s mom, Barbara.
We first heard this could be a strong possibility late last month.
“My mom and I decided to give me full custody because we want to rebuild our relationship as mother and daughter,” Jenelle told Us Weekly on March 18.
“Meanwhile, my mother also agreed that Jace will return with his siblings and live with his mother and father.
“He also thinks it’s important for Jace to be around dad to learn ‘boys’ and ‘boys talk’.”
The father figure, of course, will be Jenelle’s violent, racist and homophobic husband, David Eason, so we are not sure we agree with Barbara on this last point.
Over the years (and years), Jenelle and her mother have clashed over substance abuse issues, as well as various issues regarding Jace.
“Jace has become too much for Barbara to handle. That’s the main reason she allowed Jenelle to have custody,” a source told friends at The Ashley a few weeks ago.
Last April, as an example of Jace’s disturbing behavior and the difficulties he faced under Barbara’s roof, Jenelle claimed that her son burned down his grandmother’s house.
In a previous attempt to gain custody of her oldest child, the former Teen Mom 2 cast member told a judge that Jace was “at risk of bodily harm” while caring for her grandmother, detailing “escalating behavioral issues that have caused him to become physically aggressive, uncontrollable and unsafe.
Fast forward about a year and Jenelle has nothing but positive things to say about her mom after this decision.
“He’s seen the way David parents my son and he knows we can handle it,” Evans told the Weekly this Sunday.
“We want everything to work out for the children and as I said before, to rebuild our relationship as mother and daughter.
“We officially signed the papers on Thursday, March 16th at the courthouse, it’s done!”
Evans gave birth to Jace when he was 17 and almost immediately gave him up to Barbara.
Jace’s father, Andrew Lewis, has never really been in the picture.
In addition to Jace, Jenelle also shares son Kaiser with ex Nathan Griffith and daughter Ensley with husband Eason.
In the spring of 2019, Jenelle and David lost custody of their children after Jenelle’s husband shot and killed the family dog after it bit Ensley in May of that year.
The prisoner was reinstated two months later.
Two years later, Evans explained that Jace was living with her and Eason more often amid the coronavirus pandemic because the teenager’s behavior “wasn’t the best at my mom’s house,” she said in a YouTube video at the time.
“We gave him many, many, many chances, and told him he’d better behave, and my mom was just — she was upset,” the OnlyFans content creator said.
“And he called me and he said, ‘Yeah, that’s it, he misbehaved again.
“I don’t know how he’s going to do his schoolwork and graduate if he stays.'”
Jenelle’s manager, August Keen, also appeared in an article today after a month-long absence, told Us Weekly how wonderful and amazing and perfect Jenelle and David are in their relationship.
“Jenelle and David have always been together and things between them are great,” she told the tabloid on Saturday.
“They are a happy, well-to-do family.”