Teen Mom star Jenelle Evans says her and son Jace, 13, are ‘closer than ever’… after she finally regained custody of him from mom Barbara

Teen Mom’s Jenelle Evans revealed that her relationship with son Jace is thriving, after she recently regained full custody of him.

The reality TV star, 31 – who shares the 13-year-old with ex Andrew Lewis – was finally granted custody of Jace less than two weeks ago, after relinquishing parental rights to her mother Barbara Evans over a decade ago. 

‘My relationship with Jace is closer than ever and doing much better,’ Jenelle told E! News. 

‘I feel like being with his family makes him much happier. Our family wasn’t complete without him,’ she added.

Jenelle also revealed that the new arrangement has partially helped to heal her strained relationship with Barbara, saying, ‘My relationship with my mother has got a little better, but truthfully she is still a little controlling.’ 

‘I think it’s going to take time for her to get use to this change,’ she added. 

Jenelle – who also shares Kaiser, 8, with ex Nathan Griffith and Ensley, 6, with husband David Eason – revealed the push to get custody came from believing that her son ‘needed a change.’

‘We also didn’t like the crowds he was hanging out with, so now he’s in the country. He loves riding his dirt bike and working on it recently. He wants to sign up for dirt bike races in the future,’ she shared.

Jenelle also shed light on Jace’s relationship with step-dad David Eason.

‘David teaches him how to hunt, fish, fix dirt bikes or giving Jace dating advice. Jace needed a father figure and I can tell how happy Jace is having one around.’

The new custody arrangement became official after Jenelle and her mother Barbara signed the papers on March 16. 

She wrote in the caption of a video of herself signing the documents and shedding tears of joy: ‘Words can’t describe how happy I truly am. Our family is complete now! Thank you mom.’

The North Carolina native — who welcomed Jace in 2009 — had signed over custody of her eldest son to Barbara just shortly after his birth.

Complete: ‘I feel like being with his family makes him much happier. Our family wasn’t complete without him,’ she added

Father figure: Jenelle shared Jace enjoys having step-dad David Eason, 34 (pictured) around: ‘Jace needed a father figure and I can tell how happy Jace is having one around’

Update: She also shed light on her relationship with mom Barbara – who previously had custody of Jace – saying it ‘got a little better, but truthfully she is still a little controlling’; The duo pictured 2015

Previously, Jenelle had stated that she regained custody of Jace while speaking in a candid TikTok video posted in January 2021.

Over the years, Jenelle continued with a long battle in court with her mother over custody of her firstborn child, due to battling a drug addiction and having been arrested a number of times in her preteen years.

‘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 told Us Weekly in a statement.

‘We have officially signed the papers on Thursday, March 16th at the courthouse,’ she stated. ‘It’s a done deal!’

She went on to explain that her mother wishes for Jace to live with his family and be around a proper father figure.

‘My mother agrees it’s time for Jace to be back with his siblings and living with a mother and father,’ she said.

‘She also thinks it’s important for Jace to be around a father figure to learn “boy things” and have “men talk”,’ she added, noting that Barbara ‘has seen the way David parents [her] children’.

‘She knows we’re able to handle it,’ Jenelle continued. ‘We want to all get along for the sake of the children and – like I said before – building back our relationship as mother and daughter.’

Finalized: She recently posted a sweet clip of the process of signing the custody paperwork and wrote,’#MyHappyEnding, IT’S OFFICIAL! Thanks everyone for the support!’

Happy tears: She wrote in the caption of a video of herself signing the documents and shedding tears of joy, ‘Words can’t describe how happy I truly am. Our family is complete now! Thank you mom’

Mother-of-three: Jenelle also shares an eight-year-old son named Kaiser with her ex-boyfriend Nathan Griffith as well as daughter Ensley, six, with her husband David 

Her manager, August Keen, also told Us Weekly despite disputes in the past, Jenelle and her husband have patched things up and are in a stable, healthy relationship.

‘Jenelle and David are definitely together,’ Keen said. ‘Things between them are great.’

‘They’re a happy family, and they are completely fine,’ he said in the statement.

Jenelle was 17 at the time of Jace’s birth and had her entire pregnancy documented on MTV’s 16 And Pregnant.

David also has two children — Maryssa and Kaden — from previous relationships.

In the past, Jenelle and David had lost custody of all of their children after a scary incident involving their dog in April 2019.

Eason killed their French bulldog, Nugget, after the dog allegedly attacked and bit Ensley.

Following the tragic event, their children were removed from their custody, and the couple separated for around a year.

Despite their rocky history and having both been fired from the MTV program, they ended up rekindling their relationship and reconciling their issues.

Back together: Her manager told Us Weekly despite disputes in the past, Jenelle and her husband have patched things up and are in a stable, healthy relationship; Pictured 2016