Whitney Purvis is making headlines this week for missing her 16-year-old son’s funeral (more on that later), but the 16 and Pregnant star is defending herself— and speaking out about her son Weston’s death, something she claims could have been prevented.
As The Ashley previously reported, Whitney’s son Weston Jr.— whom she gave birth to during her “16 and Pregnant” episode in 2009— died on June 2 from causes that are still unknown. Whitney and her ex Weston Gosa Sr. have both stated that Weston Jr. suffered from several serious health issues, including Type 1 diabetes, but as of press time, the 16-year-old’s cause of death hasn’t been released publicly.
After news broke Tuesday that Whitney missed her son’s funeral after showing up late, she spoke out in several Facebook posts, including one written on Wednesday in which she questioned how her ex handled Weston Jr.’s medical issues.
(As The Ashley told you, Weston Sr. and his wife Amy Gosa raised Weston Jr., as well as Whitney and Weston’s other son River, and Whitney did not have custody of either of the boys. Whitney claimed earlier this month that this was because Weston Sr. could give the kids a better life than she could, but in another post on Wednesday, she changed the story a bit…more on that later.)
In one of the Facebook posts on Wednesday, Whitney implied that her son’s health issues were not monitored properly. She also questioned how Weston Sr. handled financial issues surrounding their son.
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“Tell me if this makes sense. My son had diabetes, Addison’s disease, and alpha one anti-trypsin deficiency, and he had no medical insurance, but he had a life insurance policy taken out on him,” Whitney wrote. “His dad bought five cars in the last six months but couldn’t pay for medical insurance. He brags about how much money he has and has the nerve to make a GoFundMe to help bury [Weston Jr.] when he was just going to cremate him anyway because it was the cheapest, plus he had the life insurance policy.
“His death could’ve been prevented,” she wrote about her teen son. “He should have had a Dexcom/glucose monitor that alerted when his sugar was going up or down to a dangerous level. In our custody order, [Weston Sr.] was supposed to have medical insurance on our kids; that was part of our agreement. That just doesn’t sit right with me, and I brought this up to him a few days before the funeral, and he got mad, thinking I was accusing him of neglect, but I just wanted to understand.”
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In the comment section of her post, Whitney answered stated that she was unaware that her son was uninsured.
“I had no idea he had no insurance until he already passed,” she wrote. “With [him] being diabetic I assumed of course he has insurance and his dad is court-mandated to have insurance in our custody agreement.”
Whitney— who was arrested last year for owing Weston Sr. over $20,000 in child support— claimed that her ex cut her off from her sons.
“I had visitation he just wouldn’t let me see them,” she wrote. “When I say I wasn’t allowed pictures I mean by [Weston Sr. and Amy]. If I ever uploaded pics of [the kids] they would get pissed off. The wife would watermark her name on pictures of my son. A judge already told him once he can’t keep me from my kids but did anyways.”
Earlier this month, Whitney explained that she allowed Weston Sr. to raise the boys because it was better for them.
“I gave custody to their father when I was much younger and in a very bad place in life mentally, financially,” she wrote in the comment. “A good mother does what’s best for her children and their father could give them a better quality of life. I don’t have family to support me and didn’t come from money. I was going thru a very traumatic experience at that time that I didn’t know to respond to correctly being so young.
“I would have loved for things to have been different but I did what I had to do to make sure they didn’t have to struggle w/me during that time,” she added.
At that time, she was much more complimentary to Weston Sr. and his wife than she was on Wednesday after the funeral.
“I graduated college since then and tried my best to grow into a better adult,” she wrote in a Facebook comment made in early June. “My kids had a wonderful father, stepmom and stepsiblings and it felt wrong to try to take them away from that once I was in a better place. I don’t care if you don’t understand or think I’m a horrible mother but I loved my children more than anything and they deserved the best even if that best wasn’t me at the time.”
Whitney was one of only two girls from the original season of “16 and Pregnant” who wasn’t chosen to appear in the spinoff Teen Mom. (Her co-stars Maci Bookout, Catelynn Lowell, Farrah Abraham and Amber Portwood were picked, while Whitney and Ebony Jackson were not.)
RELATED STORY: “16 and Pregnant” Star Whitney Purvis Explains Why Her Late Son Weston Was Raised by His Dad; Defends Giving Interviews After His Death
(Photos: Facebook; Instagram; MTV)
39 Responses
Being selfless enough to admit you could not afford the living your children needed and the other parent could, so you allowed custody to reflect that is admirable.
However, the fact she is speaking out on what should have/could have been done and curiously aligns the timeline to her not knowing these things until the child passed is foul.
This is a conversation that one should have in private or address the court. She has no right making any statements of love about a child she has not seen or been involved with for six years.
Though that part was notably missing from her timeline of events that she questions now that the child is resting in peace and those who actually raised and loved the child in presence are in mourning.
So he can pay for life insurance but not court ordered health insurance…SUS he 100% should be investigated for neglect at the very least. Do the step siblings also have life insurance but no health insurance?? Something’s wack here.
I’m sorry but some of these comments are just… foul. While I have had custody of all my children (I have three boys), and my ex was in active alcoholism and had allowed me to take the children because of his work schedule and the fact that he wasn’t equipped to raise them, it doesn’t mean that I wouldn’t allow him into one of our children’s funeral. Also, she just said she didn’t know he didn’t have insurance until AFTER the fact- how was she supposed to know when she doesn’t have custody of him and she assumed that the courts would have enforced that? In almost every reputable article I have read, she was told that the VIEWING started at 2-4 and a funeral ceremony was to follow… she showed up 15 minutes late and was locked out. I don’t give a DAMN- unless she is abusive, intoxicated and/or violent, a mother should be allowed to grieve- PERIOD. She has openly admitted that they have not gotten along pretty much since the beginning- he tries to paint her badly and she really, hasn’t said the same things as he and his wife, has said about her. With that said, he’s passed on- you are really going to use your deceased child against the woman that birthed him? She also said that she DID give him up to his dad and that once she got herself together, she kept him there because she knew he was adjusted to that life and happy. Explain to me how that is a bad choice? I know plenty of mothers that out of SPITE only, would have fought to get their child back under false pretenses. It’s also hard to be ONE person., without a ton of money, to actually fight against the opposite parent AND their spouse, to see your children. It usually also involves getting Law enforcement out to push for it and maybe she didn’t want to see her children witness that. I’m sure now, she’s seriously regretting not fighting harder, but there’s nothing she can do. I also don’t know about any of you, but to have the money to buy FIVE cars, but not money to pay for health insurance on a child with pretty severe health issues is not only irresponsible but against the court order. And whether or not the Dexcom could have prevented this from happening- the fact is, he did NOT have one. Why not? When someone is out flaunting that they have money for this and that, but not enough to assist in keeping their child as healthy as possible, that is ridiculous. And starting a GoFundMe, when you have enough money to own five cars seems very… strange to me. I don’t know how Medicade works there she is but in California, it IS based on earnings and you have to make basically nothing to be approved. And yes, go on and on about her not paying the 20K in child support- she should have but right now for EVERYONE it is tough and that could have accumulated over the years. Sounds like they did just fine though, if he’s buying five cars. Sorry not sorry. I guess we will all see what happens in a few months as far as the life insurance goes because if he’s out spending tons of money, it’ll be clear that while he may not have paid for medical insurance, he sue did pay for life insurance. If I am wrong, I’ll eat my words but Whitney doesn’t strike me as an “Amber”. She’s grieving her son. Parents should come together when it comes to their children and their son has passed- she should have at least been afforded the opportunity to attend his funeral even if she was late… It’s not like the timing was conveyed to her as strict and if she wouldn’t have been allowed in after 4, he should have at least communicated that.
She didn’t see the boy in six years. What a rotten mother.
I was a para for a 6 year old with severe juvenile diabetes. He had the dexcom. He would have treats the kids brought in as much as possible because he already knew he was “different.” Of course we had to cruise the labels to be able to dose insulin.We watched him like a hawk. But there were times when he had severe highs and lows. You really don’t understand how terrible it is until you see it first hand. She wasn’t there. How would she even know what was happening and how well they were able to control it. Kids die of it. That’s the sad sad truth. You can try your best to do everything right and it can turn at the drop of a hat. She needs to just shut her mouth about it.
Who are you
Are you talking to me? What do you mean “who are you?” I’m a person commenting on a gossip site. Just like everyone else.. The kid had diabetes. She was ranting that they didn’t take care of him, because he didn’t have a dexcom. How would she know that? She said it didn’t have to happen. Like she knew anything? I was making a point that type one diabetes is hard to control even in the best care. She obviously doesn’t understand that.
I do want to believe she had the right intentions for her boys. Being in a dark place mentally is no joke, knowing that your kids deserve better but you can’t do it for them. It’s so draining and sad 🙁 I truly hope that she is genuine.
Man, this is sad all around. I felt like people were coming for her hard when she was just trying to grieve her son, but there is absolutely no excuse on this Earth for you to miss your child’s funeral. None. I don’t care what the circumstances are, you get there. Whitney owes this to him at the very least since she herself admitted she wasn’t really much of a mother to him. Truly no excuse for that whatsoever and it actually disgusts me. With that said, If the allegations she is making against the father are true, he needs to be looked into hard. If he was court mandated to hold medical insurance for the boy, he would be stupid to not be upholding his end of the legal agreement and also take out a life insurance policy that he will inevitably collect on. My boyfriend is a type 1 diabetic and it is not to be fucked with. His continuous glucose monitor (dexcom/CGM) is single-handedly the best tool that keeps him able to manage his sugar, otherwise he would literally die. If her son didn’t have a CGM and was also a type 1 diabetic, that truly would boggle my mind. It’s the easiest and best tool you can have at your disposal to keep your sugars managed. I’m also wondering how they were able to get him his necessary insulin if he didn’t have insurance? It doesn’t exactly cost pennies out of pocket. Lots and lots to unwrap here.
Medicade?
If Weston Sr made more in income then Weston Jr may not have been eligible for Medicaid. If what she said is true and Sr bought 5 cars in 6 months then chances are he makes too much money to get Medicaid! Also if he is married to Amy and she also works then her income would be considered in his eligibility
As someone with kids myself it’s hard to believe that this kid wasn’t able to get medical care, they’re very lax on rules for that for example, my state automatically gives you Medicaid if you qualify for food assistance even if your kid has insurance through their dads job, the hospital will use whatever insurance they can (they see it) and if you have a baby and you got Medicaid the baby is automatically on it when born. No doctors really care about Medicaid for kids, it’s extremely easy to find a doctor and get approved for Medicaid for kids in my experience in several states
She has already stated Weston Sr came from money and in the last 6 months has purchased 5 vehicles (cars). I truly believe if this is true that Weston Jr didn’t qualify for Medicaid.
And, even still, medications are super expensive. So, it seems highly unlikely that they had been paying for those out-of-pocket.
Medicaid isn’t only for low to no income families and individuals. It’s also used for people who are considered to be “uninsurable”. We would not qualify as a family for medicaid (nor would we ever try to) as we make well above the financial limit, and we have really good health insurance. All of us are covered except for one child and all foster children automatically get medicaid regardless of income (we don’t have any say on that). If they end up getting adopted they switch to our insurance then. We do have one child who qualifies for medicaid because that child has conditions that multiple insurance companies have determined are “uninsurable” because they are “pre-existing or uncovered conditions”. Two of the companies outright denied any and all coverage, while one simply chose to deny *most of the treatments and medications necessary.
It’s absolutely ridiculous that insurance companies-who we pay-can do this, but they do it every single day, and we let them. Sorry, that was a tangent, but, medicaid is also used in instances like this pretty frequently. People who change insurance companies often run into problems like this if they have children with some medical conditions, too. It’s one of the reasons medicaid exists, to help cover the medical needs of children who would otherwise not be covered. It’s not only based on income, but also need based, especially in cases of limited coverage availability.
Odds are damn good, Weston Jr was covered, either by his father’s insurance and she’s lying, or need-based medicaid due to his health issues. The court would have known if he didn’t have insurance on him when she was taken to court over child support, they cover all sorts of things during those cases, including what the child support is meant to cover (like medical needs).
The funeral was at 2 and she said that he told her it was at 4. She said she was not on the guest list so they wouldn’t let her in. But apparently there is a text of a guest list with her name on it. None of us know what really happened.
I know a woman who didn’t go to her daughter’s funeral because she was physically sick at the thought of it and consciously thought “Katie would not want me to put myself through this.”
The daughter was younger-elementary-aged, and the woman had been her caregiver throughout her cancer diagnosis and treatments. The girl died in her arms. She’d done her hair at the funeral home so she could have the “right” elastics in forever.
“She’d always say ‘Mommy don’t be sad’. The people who reached out to say ‘Look, Katie wants you to be happy. Let’s go take [her beloved dog] down to the docks to swim sometime’ are the ones I’ve stayed in touch with.”
Doesn’t sound like the case here, but I’m down for letting people grieve how they need to grieve.
I feel like that’s an entirely different situation though. The mother soothed her child. Helped her any way she could. Obviously, she was very loved. People don’t know how they would react in the situation of losing a child. So, that’s not to be judged. I just feel like she’s making everything so much worse. His dad obviously doesn’t need this. He came from a loving home and they cared for him the best they could. Which wasn’t easy. I mean obviously I’m assuming they were good parents.
The audacity to not have any custody of your kids, not pay child support, and not even have the decency to show up to the funeral on time, and then imply that the other parent neglected him. And she is getting paid to do these interviews, which just makes this even more disgusting. She needs to crawl back into the hole she came from.
She’s sounding very Amber/Jenelle-like. She gave up custody because she couldn’t act right and was still $20,000 behind on child support after getting herself “together,” but now she wants to throw out accusations like this? If she truly believed her son had been medically neglected, she’d have spoken to law enforcement, not the internet.
As far as the funeral goes, Weston Sr. wasn’t the one manning the doors, he didn’t lock her out. There was a guest list to keep tabloid and such out and doors were locked after the service started. He showed a picture of her clearly on the guest list. Her claims of him telling her and her family the wrong time also don’t make sense because her mother and uncle, I believe, were there on time. Even if he had told her 4:00, who waits until the last second (or fifteen minutes later) to get to their own child’s funeral?
I feel like she’s just running her mouth and trying to make him look bad because people are judging her for being a deadbeat mom that couldn’t even be bothered to show up on time to her son’s funeral.
Im sorry she has not had custody of her son for a very long time and sounds like she didnt see him much but she is gonna start talking smack now? No! Why weren’t you taking your son to the dr or your ex to court if he wasn’t? Why were you late to his funeral? She was not raising her son she needs to keep her mouth shut! Sad how she’s giving interviews to everyone kinda looks like she is trying to get 15 more minutes of fame.
Those are some pretty serious allegations. Choosing not to have health insurance for your sick child while paying for life insurance is weird.
It sounds like she didn’t even pay child support. It’s her job as a mother to make sure her son who has serious health issues has health insurance. If she knew how important it was she would asked if he had it. If he did not she should have provided that for him whether it was in the agreement or not.
It is strong accusations against his father however if she relinquished custody to his father and it was court mandated that he provide health insurance then he should have been providing insurance period! She stated that she didn’t know that he didn’t have insurance until after the fact. Now she needs to file a wrongful death lawsuit against his father to get this looked into correctly. If Weston Sr is at fault then jail time or restitution will be ordered. I also would regain custody of my other child through the courts. The funeral there is no excuse why she wasn’t there early or at least on time to attend! She also stated that she didn’t have her family to support her so maybe her mother, uncle didn’t speak to her or was Team Weston. We read about horrible case of neglect/abuse everyday that was never reported because no one had a clue! You don’t know the circumstances so it’s best not to judge!
You must be Whitney, because these are just wild things to say. First of all, she is getting paid to give these interviews, which is a giant red flag. She also probably doesn’t actually know how much money he has or what insurance he had for the kids. And why would she know? She was a deadbeat who couldn’t even pay child support. Why exactly are you taking her word over the actual parent?
Ill and handicapped people are allowed to be on Medicare and they can’t take these people off due to health reasons. My friend and her husband make over $100k a year and get it for their daughter with spina bifida. I also have a friend whose family makes good money. Her son has Hurlers and has been on it since diagnosed. How would she even know what cars he’s buying and what insurance he had? She never took him to the dr. She didn’t pay insurance or child support. Are they going to give the bill to someone who obviously won’t pay??
Restitution for what? And WHY on earth would she, of all people, get that restitution, for what exactly? She was not the primary caregiver, she did not have shared custody, she did not have visitation, she did not have many parental rights and the ones she did have she squandered and refused to take care of (like child support). Holy hell the gymnastics you needed to do to get to these conclusions, you must be tired, lol.
The court would have KNOWN if he didn’t have insurance on the boys. It would have been covered during the case for child support. They go over rights and responsibilities along with what the child support is supposed to cover each and every damn time (even if you don’t need the reminder, lol, they do, and it’s in all the paperwork). Even if he didn’t have private insurance for Weston (assuming this is what she means, though it’s hard to take anything she says seriously) he would absolutely qualify for need-based medicaid, which doesn’t rely on income at all and relies solely on why the child needs the medicaid (his health conditions would make him a prime candidate and likely be denied or considered uninsurable by many insurance companies).
Your advice “you don’t know the circumstances so it’s best not to judge” is spot on, so why on earth are you automatically taking her word for it (when she’s clearly lying about several things) and making broad assumptions left, right and center.
She’s grieving and I totally get that sometimes grief makes us say and do stupid things we wouldn’t likely otherwise. But this is the point where people in her life that love her should tell her to just stop, quit selling stories to online rags, quit trying to defame the people who raised and cared for children she couldn’t, quit looking to place blame where none exists because what happened is tragic but, sadly, a potential reality when you have a child with serious health problems….and just find a way to get that grief out without harming other people in the process. She’s doing no one, including herself and her children, any favors by acting a fool online for money.
She missed her son’s funeral?? Wtf!? Who does that? Nothing, absolutely nothing, could make me late for my child’s funeral!
There was a People article saying she was told it started at 4 and was 15 minutes late so was locked out.
The dad said the viewing was from 2-4 with the service starting at 4 and because she was 15 minutes late she and her entourage were locked out. But and here’s where I do side eye, she signed the cremation paperwork, she would have likely had to go to the funeral home to do so, they would have discussed the details with her also most of those places have those details online.
She probably was late and that would have been disruptive but I don’t agree with locking her out. Sounds like these two couldn’t even find a way to give each other grace to mourn the child that brought them together. That says a lot about both of them. In The end I hope that little angel found peace!
There’s no evidence that he chose to lock her out. He was in the middle of his child’s funeral. I doubt he even knew she showed 15 minutes late until after the fact.
I am just stating what the People article said not what I think happened. You can read it for yourself on People.
So you couldn’t raise your kids and you couldn’t even pay child support and you couldn’t show up to your son’s funeral on time but have the nerve to bash the people that raised them and feed them and gave them all you couldn’t give to them?
The audacity of this woman
she honestly needs to stop talking, that poor boy’s family are all mourning his death because what’s starting internet fights and have people attack her child’s father really gonna do. we don’t know exactly what happened after 16 & pregnant except that she chose to give custody to the dad. for all we know she can be another amber since these past few years she’s even been proving she isn’t mentally well and nobody should have to be dealing with drama like this after burying a child
This is just sad. I’m sure she’s regretting every choice she made thinking it was better for them when it resulted like it did. They need to look into the dad though, definitely sounds like there was medical neglect. It’s also really odd to me he would have life insurance on his son but not medical insurance… was he waiting for a tragedy or expecting one? I want to know if he had life insurance on everyone, his other children or was it just Weston. If I had to choose I would pay for medical insurance to have the means to try and prevent his death rather than the means to pay for things after his death. That doesn’t sit well with me either. He should be charged for being in violation of a court order too especially if he really was withholding visitation, but def for not having med ins on them. And 5 cars… this is resembling cases where they stack up debt and then cash in on someone’s death, it happens more than it should. I hope they properly investigate this.
They already have. You are taking the word of a deadbeat mom throwing a hissy fits online because she couldn’t be bothered to show up on time to her own son’s funeral and wasn’t allowed in.
Didn’t he just pass? How would they already investigated the claim? Was it something brought up and investigated by family court?
we don’t know what she’s saying is true though, she gave the dad custody of the kids and for all we know u could be defending another amber
I definitely get the feeling she is another Amber. Always ranting and raving about how they’ve “changed.” Blaming everyone for everything. I have serious doubts that his dad purposely messed with her over a funeral.