Jenelle Evans remains hopeful that she can someday have a healthy relationship with mom Barbara Evans, but it won't happen overnight.
In an exclusive interview with E! News, the 29-year-old Teen Mom 2 alum says she's still fighting for full custody of 11-year-old son Jace as the years-long battle with Barb continues. Jenelle, who currently sees Jace on alternating weekends, tells E! News that two previously scheduled court dates have recently been continued, and so she isn't sure when she'll get to say her piece in court, which has further strained things with her mom.
"Right now, we're not on speaking terms, and we only speak if we're picking up Jace or dropping him off," Jenelle shares about Barb. "There's a lot of things behind closed doors that she's done that's surfaced lately that I've just found out about, and I'm really uneasy and upset about it. So I'm keeping my distance from her right now, especially because we're going to court, and basically I feel like our relationship might need some building again because I don't trust her anymore."
Jenelle adds, "It's back to square one."
E! News has reached out to Barb for comment.
Jace, whose dad is Jenelle's ex Andrew Lewis, is the eldest of the former MTV star's three kids. Jenelle has primary custody of 6-year-old son Kaiser, who she shares with ex Nathan Griffith, and also shares 4-year-old daughter Ensley with husband David Eason.
As fans know, Jenelle and her 68-year-old mother appeared to be making progress in their relationship last year after their turbulent past, and they even celebrated the holidays together in December 2020.
Sadly, they experienced a setback after Jenelle claimed via TikTok on Jan. 16 that Jace "lives with me now full-time," a development Jenelle later explained was a result of Barbara getting "fed up" that the boy was "misbehaving" while under her care.
On Jan. 17, Barbara told TMZ that she herself indeed still has custody, and that Jenelle had admitted to Barbara that she "misspoke" by suggesting otherwise on TikTok. At the time, Barb told the outlet that Jenelle only had visitation rights.
As Jenelle tells E! News now about her mom, "We were getting along for the past year, she was getting along with David, everything was fine. And then recently, when Jace was misbehaving, she had him live with me, and that's when everyone saw on TMZ that my mom was like, 'No, she made a mistake! She didn't mean that!' And that's when I was fed up for her to say that, after she knows what's been going on. It's pretty bad. So for her to kick that under the rug because her pride is too high, it just kind of makes me disgusted."
Jenelle is proud that she remains "very close" with Jace, and the mother-son duo will frequently text, FaceTime and play Xbox remotely together while he's staying with Barb. "We connect on a lot of different ways, and I think our relationship is just getting stronger," Jenelle adds.
Meanwhile, the TV personality continues to stay busy as she readies her latest business venture. GIRL S#!T, launching Thursday, April 1, aims to be a go-to digital platform for girls that offers web, podcast and video content. Jenelle is set to host a weekly all-female panel of high-profile influencers to answer audience questions and offer insight regarding relationships, health, education and more.
As for whether there's any chance of expanding her family, Jenelle says it's not in the cards now that her tubes are tied. Alas, Ensley hasn't quite come to terms with this and frequently asks about babies.
"I'm like, 'I'll buy you a baby doll at the store,'" the reality star says with a laugh. "And she's like, 'Deal!'"