EXCLUSIVE: '16 and Pregnant ruined our daughter's life.' Family of drug overdose girl tell of her descent into addiction and crime after reality appearance

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The adoptive mother of tragic 16 and Pregnant star Valerie Fairman has blasted the show saying it is responsible for her daughter's death

Janice Fairman said she believes her daughter would be alive today if it wasn't for her appearance on MTV.

'She was a gorgeous girl and it all went to her head,' Fairman said in an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com as she and her husband Gary spoke outside the four-bedroom home in Oxford, Pennsylvania, where they have lived for more than 40 years.

'She thought she could pretty much do whatever she liked after the show. She was determined to get everything she wanted.'

Janice Fairman, the adoptive mother 16 and Pregnant's Valerie Fairman, believes her daughter would still be alive if she hadn't appeared on the MTV reality show. She had her husband Gary brought up Valerie along with other foster and adopted children; her birth mother lost her because of addiction

Fairman said Valerie went behind her parents' back in 2009 to apply to MTV to appear on the reality show. It was broadcast the following year and Fairman took part 

Valerie was shown on the show with her baby's father, boyfriend Matt Pryce, often arguing. He still occasionally sees his daughter

Valerie, who gave birth to her now-seven-year-old daughter Nevaeh (pictured above in Valerie's lap) when she was 15, died on December 21 from an apparent drug overdose

'I wish she had never been on TV,' added Fairman as tears welled in her eyes. 'It played a big part in her death. I think it messed her up big time. 

'When we tried to put our foot down, that's when she left home. I don't think there is anything more we could have done to help her.'

Valerie was just 23 when she died on December 21 from an apparent drug overdose. 

She was found in the bathroom of a rundown home in Coatesville, Pennsylvania, a gritty steel town 30 minutes from the rustic home in the heart of Pennsylvania farm country where she was raised.

When DailyMail.com visited the house where Valerie died there was no answer. Broken glass littered the doorstep and several investigators' disposable gloves were in the trash and yard. 

Both Fairman and Valerie's birth mother, Beth Shepherd, told DailyMail.com that they believe her death was due to the opioid epidemic that is sweeping the country. 

'I think it was pink,' said Shepherd, referring to the synthetic drug, eight times stronger than heroin that has wreaked havoc on rural America.

Coatesville police are refusing to issue any details. Det Sgt Brandon Harris, the lead investigator, told DailyMail.com that talking about the case could interfere with possible future arrests. 

'Someone had to give her the drug,' he said.

Valerie's birth mother, Beth Shepherd (left, and right with Valerie), says she believe her death was due to the opioid epidemic that is sweeping the country. Shepherd struggled with drugs just like her daughter had

Shepherd reconnected with her daughter Valerie after she appeared on the MTV reality show in 2010

Shepherd (top left) says Valerie would stop by her home once a week to visit. Pictured above top left is Shepherd with her daughters clockwise Brittany, 27, Valerie, 23, Amanda, 28, and Nina, 26

Valerie was 15 when she gave birth to her daughter Nevaeh, now seven, in September 2009. At the time she said she decided to name her Nevaeh because the name is 'Heaven' spelled backward.

Janice Fairman said Valerie went behind her parents' back to apply to MTV to appear on the reality show.

'She asked us about it later,' said Fairman, 66, who is now looking after her granddaughter.

On the show, which aired in 2010, Valerie was seen constantly arguing with her boyfriend Matt Pryce about his responsibilities toward the daughter they were expecting. 

Janice and Gary Fairman - who Valerie said at the time had had 98 foster or adopted children in their care over the years - appeared supportive.

'At first we were very, very disappointed,' Janice said on camera about Valerie's pregnancy. 

Her husband, who described himself as pro-life, said abortion had never been an option. 

'We had so many children go through this house we had to do it,' he said.

On the show, Valerie said she found it hard to get attention from parents who, at the time, had 11 children in their house.

'So I've done some things to get negative attention,' she admitted. 'I've been known to hang out with the wrong crowd at the wrong time of night - or should I say morning.'

Valerie's body was found in the bathroom of a rundown home in Coatesville, Pennsylvania (pictured above). When DailyMail.com visited the house, there was no answer

Broken glass littered the doorstep and several investigators' disposable gloves were in the trash and yard

The rundown house was a far cry from the rustic home in the heart of Pennsylvania farm country where she was raised (pictured above) by her adoptive parents

And once the cameras stopped rolling, things went from bad to worse for Valerie. 

'She has been in and out of rehab for five years,' said Janice Fairman.

Fairman said she had no idea who her daughter had been with on the day of her death. She received the terrible news from Valerie's biological sister Nina Shepherd. 

'It was about 5.15 in the afternoon,' she said.

She said Valerie left home when she was 18 or 19, leaving her to bring up little Nevaeh. 

'She would call and she'd come over to see her daughter - a couple of times she went to church with us,' she said. 'But I never knew where she was staying, whether it was Coatesville or somewhere else. I know she was living with a guy called Russ for a while.'

Fairman said she was honest with Nevaeh, telling her that her mother had died. 

She said Matt Pryce, the baby's father also visits occasionally. 'He is in her life,' she said.

Valerie was cremated this week. There was no funeral service, although a memorial is planned for January 14 in the Safe Harbor Baptist Church in Cochranville, Pennsylvania.

Her birth mother, Beth Shepherd, said she is hoping to get some of her ashes.

Janice Fairman said Valerie left home when she was 18 or 19, leaving her and her husband to bring up little Nevaeh

Shepherd, 48, told DailyMail.com that she reunited with Valerie after she appeared on 16 and Pregnant.

She had not known what had happened to her until she saw her on television. 

'One day my daughter Amanda shouted out: "Valerie's on television." So the TV show helped me find her,' Shepherd said. 'When I first met her, I saw her walking in and she had big sunglasses on. 

'When she took them off, it was like looking in the mirror, she was a darker version of me.'

Shepherd said she last saw Valerie, the fifth of her six children, on the Friday before her death. 

'We had gone to visit her sister in Glenmoore and she was fine,' she said.

Shepherd lost custody of Valerie when her daughter was a toddler because of her own crack cocaine addiction. 

Although she says she was clean throughout her pregnancy, she later relapsed and served four years in jail.

Shepherd said that it was during her incarceration that she successfully kicked her habit and has been sober since 2004. 

'I did everything I could to get myself together,' she said. 'I told her my whole story in 2013, I had to be honest about everything I had done. 

'Valerie was still doing her show when I first met her. I thought they might mention that during one of the update shows, but they never did.'

After appearing on 16 and Pregnant, Valerie was arrested several times. Earlier this month, she was arrested (left) resisting arrest and providing false identification to law enforcement. In 2015 she was arrested for prostitution (right)

Shepherd hopes that though her daughter is gone, she can one day meet her granddaughter, Nevaeh

Shepherd, who lives in Parkesburg, Pennsylvania, six miles west of Coatesville, described her relationship with her daughter as 'a little rocky'. 

'But she would come over here at least once a week,' she said. 'I was working for Habitat for Humanity. She would come and spend time with me there just to have something to do.'

Shepherd said that through her own experience she realized Valerie was using drugs. 

'I took her to a methadone clinic a few times,' she said. 'But you have to want to get off drugs.'

'Valerie went through everything I went through,' added Shepherd. 'I was brought up in the middle of the country and I wanted some excitement so I would run off to Coatesville, which is like the big town around here. It was the same with her.

'She told me how much she looked up to me and I was an inspiration to her because I had managed to get clean.'

Now Beth Shepherd said her biggest wish is to meet her granddaughter Nevaeh for the first time. 

'Not long ago Valerie said to me: 'Mom, I want you to get to know her.' She mentioned it a few times.'

But she said so far that has not happened and she does not know whether the Fairmans will allow it. 

'They have said Valerie's siblings can meet her but so far not me,' she said. 'But I will fight for it if it takes the rest of my life.'