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Mama June Emotionally Wonders Where Anna’s Children Will Live Amid Cancer Battle
June “Mama June” Shannon got emotional while wondering what will happen to Anna “Chickadee” Cardwells daughters amid her cancer battle.
“It’s a hard subject to talk about but like, when that time does come, like whenever Anna was to pass away, Eldridge [Toney] has told all of us that he’s not going to be able to handle [raising her kids],” June, 44, told her husband, Justin Stroud, about Anna’s husband in a teaser clip for Mama June: Family Crisis shared by People. “So like, I want to be able to have that place to be like, OK, you can come here.'”
June then pointed out that Anna didn’t “have her f–king affairs in order.” While Anna’s youngest daughter, Kylee, 8, would go to her father, Michael Cardwell, the mother of two had not yet decided who would take care of her eldest daughter, Kaitlyn, 11.
“She says she wants Eldridge to adopt Kaitlyn,” June continued. “But when it comes about to go do that … There’s always like — kind of like it’s brushed off.”
Justin, 36, added that Kaitlyn’s custody battle would be a “mess” because her birth father wasn’t in the picture.
June then explained that she had not yet spoken to Eldridge about Kaitlyn’s custody, though worried she may not “say what she wants to say.” She said that she wants to give Kaitlyn “what she needs,” noting that she helped raise her granddaughter for the first four years of her life.
While June was clearly considering taking in Kaitlyn, Justin admitted he had concerns about taking on the responsibility. “[With] everything Anna’s got going on, like, it may be a real possibility that we end up raising Kaitlyn,” June told Justin in a confessional, while he replied, “You know I’m going to be here and do what I need to do to raise that little girl but she has to like get paperwork and make it legal.”
After June pointed out that signing away the “rights” to a child is “not the easiest f–king thing to do,” she acknowledged that the situation was likely a “hard pill to swallow” for Anna.
“At that point, it’s going to become real to her,” she continued. “She’s not going to be able to see her graduate, she’s not this. She’s not going to see her turn 18, like that’s her realizing like, ‘F–k, this is true. This is my destination.'”
Anna revealed she had been diagnosed with stage 4 adrenal carcinoma in March 2023. June later confirmed her death in an Instagram post on December 10, 2023. “With the breaking heart, we are announcing that [Anna] is no longer with us,” the TV personality wrote at the time. “She passed away in my home last night peacefully at 11:12 PM. She gave one hell of a fight for 10 months. She passed away with her family around her. We will be updating y’all with more information as we get it today. We love y’all and continued prayers and thoughts for our family [during] this difficult time.”
June was awarded custody of Kaitlyn in December 2023 following Anna’s death.
“We are following Anna’s wishes at the end of the day. People will see that all this season of the show,” June told The U.S. Sun in January after she had been granted custody. “A lot was covered on camera. The world will hear it from Anna’s mouth.”
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