Well, Jenelle! 'Teen Mom 2' Alum Jenelle Evans, Mom Barbara's Ups and Downs


Teen Mom 2 alum Jenelle Evans and her mom, Barbara Evans, have been feuding over custody of Jenelle’s son, Jace — in addition to many other issues — for over a decade.

After giving birth to her eldest son in August 2009, Jenelle signed over legal custody of Jace to her mom. The dramatic decision played out on the former MTV personality’s 2010 episode of 16 and Pregnant. At the time, the North Carolina native realized that she needed her mom’s help in raising Jace while she partied with friends. (Jace’s father, Andrew Lewis, is not involved in his son’s life.)

For more than a decade, fans watched Jenelle and Barbara fight over Jace — until Us Weekly broke the news in March 2023 that Jenelle was granted custody of her eldest son, which she and her mom agreed on as part of a peace-making pact.

“My mom and I decided together to grant full custody back to me because we want to build our relationship back as mother and daughter,” Jenelle — who also shares son Kaiser with ex Nathan Griffith and daughter Ensley with husband David Eason — exclusively told Us at the time. “Also, my mother agrees it’s time for Jace to be back with his siblings and living with a mother and father. She also thinks it’s important for Jace to be around a father figure to learn ‘boy things’ and have ‘men talk.’ She has seen the way David parents my children and she knows we’re able to handle it.” 

Despite that and other moments of apparent reconciliation over the years, Barbara and Jenelle seem to always end up fighting again. Keep scrolling to see their biggest ups and downs: