Jenelle Evans Reveals Why Teenage Son Jace Moved To Florida To Live With His Father, And...

Jenelle Evans‘ 15-year-old son Jace is officially living down in Florida with his father, Andrew Lewis — and now we know why.

So, over the last few days, rumors have been flying around on social media that the Teen Mom 2 alum’s eldest son had been sent off to Florida to live with his dad. Nobody knew if the rumors were true or not for a while. But on Tuesday afternoon, the 33-year-old reality TV veteran took to TikTok to confirm that the report is, in fact, accurate.

In a nearly five-minute-long video posted on that social media site, Evans said Jace has been sent to Florida to live with Andrew amid the teenage boy’s ongoing struggles with some mental health issues. Reflecting on it from her home in Las Vegas, Jenelle moved preemptively to defend her decision to send the teenager to the Sunshine State. Speaking candidly to the camera, the MTV veteran began by defending the move like this:

“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. 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 got specific, too. For one, she noted that Jace has been diagnosed with both attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) over the last few years. Per the Mayo Clinic, ODD involves a frequent pattern of anger that children and teenagers show to parents and other authorities figures while openly flouting various rules and requirements.

Evans candidly revealed just how hard that has been on her, and the rest of her family:

“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 [oppositional] defiant disorder or ODD. 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.”

For Evans, despite some past hints at Jace’s struggles, she noted that his mental health diagnoses had been a “family secret” that she and other relatives opted to keep private for years. But no longer, she stated. Jenelle explained:

“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. Something had to be done.”

The whole thing came to a head recently when Evans was experiencing a panic attack over Jace’s situation, she revealed. She called Lewis during that episode and begged him to help with their son. Together, the exes eventually came to the conclusion that it was best for Jace to move to Florida, so that he could live with Andrew and his mother.

Evans — who is also mom to 10-year-old son Kaiser with ex-boyfriend Nathan Griffith, as well as 8-year-old daughter Ensley with estranged husband David Eason — went on to add:

“We’ve tried everything we could. Right now, he needs to be in a situation where both households are safe.”

Wow.

In the end, Jenelle said that she just hopes everyone involved is safe with this new setup. She tried to conclude things on an optimistic note, as well:

“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 adult… It’s just really important. I put all the drama aside and said, ‘let’s just do this.'”

You can watch her full video (below):