Leah Messer is ready to get really real about her life, her family, and her actions both on-screen with Teen Mom 2, and off-screen behind the scenes.
The reality TV star has a new memoir coming out on May 5, Hope, Grace, & Faith, and while fans have to wait a little more than a week from now to read it in full, some of the content is already making headlines. In the book, Messer comes forward about an abortion, opens up about suicidal thoughts, and reveals some of the successes of a rehab stay. Whoa…
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The 28-year-old spoke to People this week about everything that’s been going on in her life — the most surprising part of which is the before-unmentioned pregnancy termination. Though it was portrayed to fans of the hit MTV show as a miscarriage during the season 4 premiere more than eight years ago, in actuality, Leah had an abortion at the time and didn’t want to admit to it.
Back in 2012, Messer was still dealing with feelings for ex Corey Simms (with whom she shares twin daughters Aliannah and Aleeah) when she unexpectedly learned she was pregnant by Jeremy Calvert (another ex now, with whom she shares daughter Adalynn). Struggling to cope with the Calvert pregnancy, Messer claims her mother and “another person in her circle” convinced her to take abortion pills.
She explained why in her recent convo with the media outlet, explaining more about the pressure to say it was a miscarriage while adding (below):
“I had very low self esteem at that point in my life and I 100 percent allowed others to control my decision making. I truly, wholeheartedly felt like I convinced myself that that’s really what was happening. Looking back now, I just wish I would have owned it. I wish I would’ve owned what was going on. [I wish I hadn’t been] fearful of what everyone was going to say … but I’m not going to dwell on the decision I made at that time. I’m going to rise above the decision I made and learn from that experience.”
Sad stuff… we can’t even imagine going through it in that way back then, but it’s heartening to see Messer walk through the fire and get to a better place today.
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That’s how the reality TV star herself looks at things now, too. She shared more about her passion behind the memoir itself and owning up to the sometimes-unflattering truths in her life, too, adding:
“At the end of the day, if I was going to own my story and own my truth, I was going to own it all. That was the whole purpose behind the writing process, the passion behind my book, all the drive that I had behind it. [I wanted to] open up and allow others to see all the imperfections, because it’s okay. We’re perfectly imperfect and we get to embrace every imperfection that comes our way, all the adversity, no matter what.”
And she continued from there, noting her public perception from the very start — she first appeared as a teenager on MTV‘s 16 & Pregnant — was in some ways wrong from the very beginning:
“I want my supporters and viewers to see me for who I truly am. I feel like there’s this misconception of me, ‘Oh, she was 17 and pregnant.’ It was portrayed like, ‘She was a cheerleader. She had everything planned out for her. But there was so much more to my story and my life that the viewers hadn’t seen. I wanted to open up and inspire others who may be going through the same thing. I didn’t realize what loving myself was. Now, I’m okay with living my life and being the mother and the woman that I was meant to be.”
Inspiring, and ultimately very optimistic about a bright future ahead!
Like we mentioned above, Hope, Grace, & Faith is available in bookstores on May 5… will U be grabbing a copy when it hits bookshelves early next month, Perezcious readers??
[Image via Instagram]
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