In a preview trailer for the upcoming season of Teen Mom OG, Gary Shirley drops a bombshell when talking with his attorney by making the claim that Amber Portwood’s fiance, Matt Baier, has seven children — and Amber doesn’t even know! The claim sent Teen Mom sleuths scurrying, and they have uncovered court records indicating that Gary Shirley’s claims are completely true!
The Ashley spoke with a county clerk, who confirmed that there are seven separate child support cases filed against Matt in the state of Indiana. The children in the child support cases range in age from five to twenty-five, and they were mothered by five different women. In addition, two of the children have children of their own–making 44-year-old Matt a grandfather!
The Ashely reports that all of the cases are still open, despite a few of the children being over 18. Some of the cases date back to the early 1990s, and at one point Matt had a child support lien against him in the state of North Dakota in the amount of $47,000. As The Ashley points out, it is unclear if Matt has since paid up on that lien.
Matt previously revealed he had two children living in Massachusetts, and that his drug addiction issues led to a split from their mother. “My daughter looked at me and said, ‘I don’t want you guys to get back together…dad, you do a lot of drugs….We don’t want you guys to get back together,’” Matt told us in an interview in May. “And I’m like, ‘Oh my god, my kid realizes that I’m high?’ It really snapped me into reality,” he added.
Matt then quit cold turkey and began attending AA meetings. After that, he began what he called a “fantastic” co-parenting relationship with his ex, and he revealed he has a great relationship with his kids. “Not a night goes by that I don’t say goodnight to my kids,” he said. “My kids have forgiven me for being a junkbox a long time ago. Now, I can finally be their dad.”
Amber and Matt have remained relatively quiet about his abundance of offspring on social media, although Amber did react to The Ashley’s story. Amber first seemed to laugh it off; then, she was shocked to find out the story was based on court documents, and not just rumors and speculation.
She later issued a statement declaring that she was standing by her man regardless. Here are those interactions on Twitter:
Amber’s statement:
For anyone talking crap about this whole situation with Matt..this shit isn’t funny This is real life I have to deal with not entertainment. I’m not dealing with this negative immature bullshit. I have enough to worry about. I’ll block and be done with it. Love not hate ? learn it! I don’t care if I found out he had 10 kids. He has to deal with that and his past and I’ll stand by him. But I’m a woman and I hold my own.
@Tori_G21 his past is his past..we all have to deal with it sooner or later.. No reason to judge or put people down..love ?
— Amber Portwood (@AmberLPortwood) December 17, 2015
Amber is reportedly upset that Gary chose to bring up Matt’s past on camera instead of in private. I imagine we will see a lot more of that drama on the new season and at the Reunion Show!
Teen Mom OG returns Monday, January 4 at 10/9c on MTV.
UPDATE – More reactions from Amber on Twitter:
@madonna_frances I know about all of his kids and would love to meet them..I just didn’t want this plastered all over tv and internet.
— Amber Portwood (@AmberLPortwood) December 17, 2015
@madonna_frances this isn’t fair to him or his kids because he was immature when he was younger. Sending all my love?
— Amber Portwood (@AmberLPortwood) December 17, 2015
