Dr. Phil asks Alex if she made the right decision in keeping her son, Nathan, when he was born, instead of placing him for adoption, a decision she struggled with. He is now 6, attending kindergarten and in his second year of T-ball.
[AD]"Absolutely," she says. "I couldn't think of anything else that would make me more happy than to see him grow up."
"Has it been the right decision for him?" Dr. Phil asks.
"I think that he knows that he's loved, and I hope that he knows that he's loved, and that we all do the best that we can for him," she says.
"I was living with my parents for a while, and then my mom and I just really couldn't seem to make our relationship work, so I thought it would be best for me and for my children, at the time, to find another place to live," Alex explains. "We did, and then Nathan's father brought up the fact that I had signed this petition."
"At that point, you had a choice: Either the guy you were living with had to go, or Nathan had to go," Dr. Phil says.
[AD]"And I can't make the bills by myself," Alex replies. "We had signed a lease together." She adds that she visited a lawyer to change the document she agreed to with Nathan's father.
"How's he doing with your parents?" Dr. Phil asks.
"He's doing well," she says with hesitation. "They baby him a lot, and I think he suffers from that."
Alex explains she chose to live with her new boyfriend, Anthony, because they have been dating for awhile, and she forgot about the petition she signed with Nathan's father. "He's the only person who's really supportive," she says, fighting emotions.
"What are you doing for money?" Dr. Phil asks.
"I get child support from Nathan's dad, and I'm collecting unemployment, until I find something," she says. She also works as a bartender every now and again to earn extra cash, and Anthony does maintenance and lawn care to earn money.
[AD]"Do you miss Nathan?" Dr. Phil asks.
Alex nods and cries. "Very much so," she says.
"How does he relate to you when he sees you?" Dr. Phil asks.
"When he comes to visit me, he always says that he wants to live with me, and when my mom comes and picks him up, he cries, because he wants to stay," she sobs. "I'm telling him that I'm doing the best I can to make that possible."