Happy Sweet 16 to Jace Evans! Former Teen Mom 2 star Jenelle Evans is celebrating her eldest son’s milestone birthday.
Jenelle took to Instagram on Monday, August 4, to share a series of photos from the teen’s birthday festivities, which included a helicopter ride and a fancy steak dinner out. Jace — who has been rocking long hair for several years now — also rang in his birthday with a new look: a shorter, close-cropped cut.
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“To the young man that made me a mother 😭🎉🎂 #HappyBirthday Jace, 16 years young! You’re the most ambitious and caring boy I know,” Jenelle, 33, wrote in the caption of the photos. “Seeing you get through trials and tribulations of life and still come out on top makes me so proud! ❤️.”
As Jenelle acknowledged in her caption, and longtime MTV viewers know, Jace has dealt with serious hardships throughout his life. Within the past three years — after Jenelle regained custody of Jace, who spent the first 13 years of his life under legal care of his grandmother (Jenelle’s mom), Barbara Evans — Jace ran away from Jenelle’s North Carolina home multiple times and alleged that her then-husband, David Eason, of physically assaulting him in October 2023. (Eason was subsequently charged with felony assault by strangulation and misdemeanor child abuse, per the U.S. Sun.)
In a September 2024 episode of Teen Mom: The Next Chapter — after Jenelle separated from Eason and relocated to Las Vegas with her three children — Jace spoke out on camera about feeling better being away from his former stepdad.
“He’s gone now, and like, I’m fine,” Jace told Jenelle at the time.
Following the family’s move — in addition to Jace, Jenelle is mom to son Kaiser, 11, whom she shares with ex Nathan Griffith; and daughter Ensley, 8, whom she shares with Eason — Jenelle briefly sent Jace to live with his estranged biological father, Andrew Lewis, this May, following a series of alleged incidents in the home in which Jace was allegedly breaking things in the house.
Jace’s living situation with his father in Florida was short-lived due to Lewis’ alcohol abuse, Jenelle told Us Weekly in June.
“Andrew, he’s had his problems with alcohol since Jace has been a baby,” the 16 and Pregnant alum explained. “So that was the big contributing factor. Jace just really needed to see it for himself. But then I thought [Andrew] changed and he didn’t. And we found that out and Jace came back home.”
As for Eason, Jenelle and her ex-husband finalized their divorce in July.
