Amber Portwood is continuing to take steps to try to mend her "strained" relationship with her daughter Leah.
During the Sept. 28 episode of Teen Mom OG, the 31-year-old reality TV star, who shares Leah with her ex Gary Shirley, revealed it'd been "a couple months" since she last spoke to her 12-year-old child.
"I wanted us to have a great, you know, co-parenting family that I thought we had until it became weird," she told a producer. "And then all of a sudden, Leah just started acting weird and turning on me."
While Amber noted she'd been trying to give Leah space, she said she'll never give up on their relationship.
"Leah's my daughter. This is not her," she continued. "She does not ignore me like this. Even if I take responsibility for every single wrongdoings I've ever done, it just feels like it's never enough. All I can say is sorry and try to move forward. I can't sit here and have her think things that aren't true about me because I am her mother."
So, Amber decided to record a video of herself reading a letter she'd written to Leah. Although, she admitted she was "nervous" about how Leah might react.
"How many times do I need to apologize?" she cried. "They don't hear me? How many times do I need to apologize? I'm trying."
Amber gave Gary a heads up about the message. And when he told Leah about it, she asked if they could watch it together.
"To my beautiful daughter," Amber tearfully began. "I'm so proud of the young lady you have become. I know I've missed some very important times in your life, times that a mother should not miss, while I was still trying to understand my own life. I am so sorry for the things I did that kept us apart. I never ever wanted to hurt you. I think about you every day. And I will never stop trying to mend our relationship no matter what it takes. I will always love you. You are my heart no matter what."
After viewing the clip, Leah didn't know what to say. While Gary said it sounded like Amber was trying to apologize, Leah wasn't sure if she was ready to accept it.
"I'm sure we have, like, good memories," the pre-teen said, "but I couldn't tell if, like, the crying or anything like that was fake. So, I really don't know what to think of it. I don't know if I can forgive her, and especially not now."
When Gary asked what Leah couldn't forgive her for, Leah pointed to social media videos in which Amber said "bad stuff" about Gary's wife Kristina.
"You can make bad decisions and still care about somebody, OK?" Gary told her. "Your mom's made bad decisions. I've made bad decisions. You can still love and care about somebody even though you've made bad decisions."
Leah then said she loves Kristina, who noted "there's room for all of us."
"That has nothing to do with your relationship with your mom," Gary continued. "What I will say is I know this: Your mom loves you. "
Still, Leah wasn't ready to move forward. "But I love Kristina, and [Amber] tried to hurt somebody I love and I can't love somebody who tries to hurt other people."
Gary then suggested they have a conversation with Amber. "If your mom stops that kind of thing and if she understands that's why you've distanced yourself, maybe that's something you tell her," he said. "Maybe it's something I tell her."
However, Leah wasn't convinced and said, "Nobody tells her anything."
Gary pointed out "something can't be fixed if we don't know the problem," but Leah replied, "I don't want it fixed." He then acknowledged Amber "shouldn't be doing the videos," but urged Leah to not "let that ruin your chances with her if you want something with her." However, Leah said, "I don't want that."
Fans have watched Amber's journey ever since she appeared on 16 and Pregnant over a decade ago. "I can't take away my past," Amber told her therapist during another episode of Teen Mom OG. "I just want her to love me again…I'm just going to keep trying. I'm going to keep reaching and praying."
Teen Mom OG airs Tuesday nights at 8:00 p.m. on MTV.