From Lil Wayne to Jamie Lynn Spears, These Stars Become Parents at Such Young Ages
Celebrity

Even though some of these stars admit to sometime regretting becoming parents so young, they are still happy with their children and consider them as a blessing.

AceShowbiz - Being a parent is hard work, even more so when you are still not at the age when you are supposed to have babies. In the United States alone, there are more than 200,000 babies who are born to parents aged 15 to 19 years old, according to Centers for Disease Control. With such an impressive number, it comes as no surprise that some of the parents are celebrities.

Celebrities of such ages are usually busy pursuing their careers in the industry, given their young passion and energy. However, these stars have already divided their responsibilities between their career and taking care of their children. It is surely a difficult thing to do, but they manage to get through it and live their lives just fine. And even though there are some who admit that they sometime regret becoming parents so young, they are still happy with their children and consider them as a blessing.

Below, we have listed several celebrities who became parents before they even hit 20. Let's take a look!

1. Solange Knowles (18 Years Old)


Solange Knowles (18 Years Old)
WENN/Jeff Grossman

While people are usually enjoying their youth when they are still in their 10s, Solange Knowles has already married and has a child of her own. The younger sister of Beyonce Knowles gave birth to her first child, a son named Daniel Julez, with then-husband Daniel Smith on October 18, 2004. At the time, Solange was still 18 years old.

Solange once admitted that she partly regretted the fact that she bore a child at an early age, but still called her son the greatest unplanned blessing. The songstress even wrote a song, titled "6 O'Clock Blues", about her son and released it in 2008.

2. T.I. (19 Years Old)


T.I. (19 Years Old)
WENN/JLN Photography

It's no secret that T.I. has several children, but what some people don't realize is how young the rapper was when he became a father for the first time. The "Ant-Man and the Wasp" actor was still 19 years old when his ex-girlfriend LaShon Thompson gave birth to their child in February 2000. At the time, LaShon was in her 20s.

In an interview with XXL magazine, T.I. confessed how hard it was for him to learn how to be a parent. "It's something that you never really master. It's a hell of a charge to even assume responsibility for them," he said. "You have to be committed to it and passionate about it. Put your effort and energy towards it."

3. Bristol Palin (18 Years Old)


Bristol Palin (18 Years Old)
Instagram

Bristol Palin caught media attention when she announced she was pregnant right in the middle of mother Sarah's run for the vice presidency in 2008. She was still 18 years old when she gave birth to her daughter with then-fiance Levi Johnston.

Knowing how hard it is to be a parent at such a young age, Bristol was later named a Teen Pregnancy Prevention Ambassador for the Candie's Foundation, a teen pregnancy prevention organization. Her duties involved attending town hall meetings, talking about abstinence, public service announcements and giving interviews on morning talk shows.

4. LeBron James (19 Years Old)


LeBron James (19 Years Old)
WENN/JLN Photography

Not only entering the professional basketball world at such a young age, but LeBron James also became a father very young. The athlete welcomed his first child, a son named a LeBron Jr., with longtime girlfriend Savannah Brinson in 2004, when he was still 19 years old. He went on marrying Savannah after that and welcomed another son named Bryce as well as a daughter named Zuri.

Becoming a father before even hitting 20 must be hard on LeBron, but he took his fatherhood seriously because he knew how painful it was to be growing up without a father figure. "I wanted to be a part of the statistics that breaks the mode of fathers running out on their kids," he said in an interview. "That was something that I obviously went through and I knew from Day 1 that wasn't going to be me."

5. Emily Maynard (19 Years Old)


Emily Maynard (19 Years Old)
WENN/FayesVision

Stories about how Emily Maynard became a mother for the first time wasn't something heartwarming. If anything, it was heartbreaking. "The Bachelorette" alum was 19 years old when her driver fiance, Ricky Hendrick, died in a 2004 plane crash. Days later, she learned that she was pregnant with their daughter, whom she named Ricki in his memory.

Fortunately, Emily was able to move on from her late fiance and married Tyler Johnson. The couple has three sons together, Jennings Tyler, Gibson Kylie and Gatlin Avery. Back in 2017, she said in an interview that her eldest daughter helped her a lot in taking care of her other kids, though Emily had to keep reminding herself not to let Ricki babysit her brothers all the time.

6. Keisha Castle-Hughes (17 Years Old)


Keisha Castle-Hughes (17 Years Old)
WENN/Nicole Kubelka

Keisha Castle-Hughes, who became the youngest person ever to be nominated best actress for an Oscar at age 13, got pregnant when she was only 16 years old. She gave birth to her daughter with her boyfriend of seven years one month after celebrating her 17th birthday. The then-couple named their daughter Felicity.

In an interview with Variety, Keisha admitted that she was shocked when she learned about her pregnancy, but she still considered her child as "the best thing that ever happened to me." She added, "Yes, I was very young, but I knew I had a good support system from my family. It really does take a village to raise a child. I couldn't have done it without them."

7. Fantasia Barrino (17 Years Old)


Fantasia Barrino (17 Years Old)
Instagram

Fantasia Barrino's life before she became the winner of "American Idol" season 3 was far from easy. She dropped out of school after being attacked by her classmate in high school and gave birth to her daughter, Zion, when she was only 17 years old.

Speaking of her teen pregnancy, Fantasia explained that a lot of people "seemed to give up on me," and her mother was even heartbroken due to this. "She and my grandmother had both gotten pregnant at 17, and they'd wanted something different for me," the singer said, adding that she herself wanted to wait a little bit longer before getting pregnant if she could. Nevertheless, she was thankful for her daughter.

8. Jourdan Dunn (19 Years Old)


Jourdan Dunn (19 Years Old)
WENN/Lia Toby

Jourdan Dunn once sparked controversy when she announced her pregnancy in the November 2009 issue of Teen Vogue. Many accused the magazine of glorifying teenage pregnancy as the model was still 18 at the time. Despite the controversy, Jourdan continued her modeling work until she was six months pregnant and eventually gave birth to his son, Riley, in 2010.

Admitting that becoming a young mother was a scary prospect at first, she said in an interview, "I asked myself, 'Can I be responsible for another human being? Like, what the hell!' I was lucky I had my mom to guide me, but at the same time she let me learn to trust my own instinct."

9. Lamar Odom (19 Years Old)


Lamar Odom (19 Years Old)
WENN/Guillermo Proano

Lamar Odom was just coming to the end of his 10s when he found out that his then-girlfriend Liza Moralez was pregnant with their first child. The two welcomed their daughter, Destiny, in 1998, before he was drafted by the Los Angeles Clippers. Together, they have two more children: Lamar Jr. who was born in 2002, and Jayden, who was born in 2015. However, Jayden died after he suffocated in his crib at the age of six months.

Following the loss, Lamar and Liza split. During the time of their marriage, Destiny admitted it was hard on her due to small amount of privacy that she had. The pair eventually divorced in 2016. He then turned to drugs and married Khloe Kardashian.

10. Taylor Hanson (19 Years Old)


Taylor Hanson (19 Years Old)
Instagram

Starting his career as a member of Hanson at such a young age, Taylor Hanson also got married and became a first-time father before he even hit 20. Just five months after tying the knot with Natalie Anne Bryant, then-19-year-old Taylor welcomed their first child, a son named Jordan Ezra, on October 31, 2002.

"We are so excited to start a family," he said in a statement at the time. "Having Ezra is the best thing we've ever done. Life ans art are all about these moments." The couple went on welcoming five more children after that, with their sixth child greeting the world on December 26, 2018.

11. Lil Wayne (16 Years Old)


Lil Wayne (16 Years Old)
WENN/Jessica Alexander

When boys at 16 years old usually spend most of their time fooling around with their friends, Lil Wayne had already taken the responsibility of raising a child of his own. The rapper and his then-girlfriend Toya Wright, who was 15 years old at the time, welcomed their first child, a daughter named Reginae Carter, on November 29, 1998.

Reginae was primarily raised by her mother following the couple's split in 2006, spending most of her time in Atlanta. However, Wayne has always been a consistent part of her life. He often rapped about his daughter on his songs. For instance, he spitted on "Sorry 4 the Wait 2", "I'm sorry for the f***ing wait, was busy, racing Ferraris with lil Reginae."

12. Jamie Lynn Spears (16 Years Old)


Jamie Lynn Spears (16 Years Old)
WENN/Judy Eddy

When it comes to teenage parents, one couldn't leave Jamie Lynn Spears' story. Back in December 2007, a 16-year-old Jamie announced that she was expecting a child with then-boyfriend Casey Aldridge. The then-couple welcomed their daughter, Maddie Briann Aldridge, on June 19, 2008 in Mississippi. It sparked controversy at the time as many were disappointed with the contrast between her on-screen personality as a "good girl" and her real life pregnancy.

But Jamie didn't regret it or feel sorry for herself. "I brought this little girl into this world, and it's my job to make sure that she has the best life that she possibly can have no one else's," she said of her daughter at the time. "You've got to take responsibility for your actions and that's what I try my best to do every single day."

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