The “HERE COMES HONEY BOO BOO” clan is hiding a shocking adoption secret!
The ENQUIRER has learned that family matriarch June “Mama” Shannon – who’s become an unlikely overnight celebrity thanks to the antics of her outrageous 7-year-old daughter Alana “Honey Boo Boo” Thompson – tried to give her eldest daughter Anna away to relatives.
And when that didn’t work out, she simply abandoned the tyke to run off with a boyfriend!
June was such a terrible mother, say sources, that Anna begged other family members to adopt her.
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Janice Shannon, who was married to June’s late brother Jimmy, told The ENQUIRER that June approached her while she was pregnant with Anna and asked if she would take the baby after she was born.
Janice says that although they were willing, the adoption never materialized because June refused to relinquish her parental rights.
During her childhood, Anna was shuffled between June’s house and the home of her grandmother, Sandra Hale.
The instability lasted until she was 7, when June finally dumped Anna at Sandra’s for good so she could move into a trailer with a boyfriend. Not long after that, child welfare officials stepped in and awarded custody to Sandra after determining that Anna was unsafe in June’s home.
Now 18, Anna, who goes by the nickname “Chickadee,” eventually dropped out of high school and gave birth to a baby girl, Kaitlyn, in July.
“Anna lived with Sandra until early this year, when June bribed her with $500 a month to move back in with the family and be on the TV show,” said a source. “They thought that Anna’s illegitimate teenage pregnancy would make for good story lines for the show.”
June, 33, has four daughters with four different men, at least three of them with prison records.
She’s refused to let Anna’s father, ex-con David Dunn, or her 15-year-old daughter Jessica’s dad, ex-con Michael Anthony Ford, see their children. She’s also blocked Caleb Clark, who claims to be the father of Anna’s baby, from obtaining a DNA test to establish his paternity.
As THE ENQUIRER previously reported, Anna and Caleb dated for two years, but he’s been denied access to the infant girl since the day after she was born.
In an exclusive interview, Caleb revealed that Anna had told him she wanted to be legally adopted by her grandmother.
“Anna was in her grandmother’s custody, but she was still desperate to get away from June officially,” Caleb shared. “June was a lousy mother to Anna.”
Caleb says that although June likes to pretend they’re all one big, happy hillbilly family on the show, Anna’s body language gives away her true feelings about her neglectful mother.
“You can see it – Anna still resents June and stands apart from the rest of the family,” noted Caleb.
“When the cameras are turned off, Anna doesn’t have much to do with any of them.”
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