Amber Portwood Chooses Prison Over Her Child

Media coverage surrounding Amber Portwood's decision to go to prison because she can't hack it in rehab has more or less ignored one key component:

Her daughter, Leah.

The Teen Mom star was sentenced to five years in prison last week after she dropped out of a drug-treatment program the court ordered her to complete.

She could've toughed it out, though; Portwood is off to prison because she felt rehab was simply too hard and thinks going to jail is the only way to get clean.

Portwood said in her jailhouse interview last week that an overdose drove her to take the five-year sentence - handed down because of her repeated drug arrests, but initially suspended pending completion of the program.

The saddest part of this saga, which has become an afterthought, is that she effectively chose to be locked up and away from her three-year-old girl.

With the final season of Teen Mom starting tomorrow, this is unlikely to be swept under the rug any longer. The premiere shows Amber going to rehab.

In the second episode, she's in treatment and thinks she's making some real progress, making her downward spiral even more depressing to endure.

Maybe Gary Shirley having custody of Leah isn't the worst thing, but why would you choose to go to prison and not be a part of your child's life?

Like everything else in Amber's world, it defies comprehension.

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