Teen celebrities are considered role models for the younger generation, and their millions of fans around the world will wear the same clothes as them, change their appearance to look like them and hang on every word they say. They are not just idols for many but also influencers.
So when a young star falls pregnant - which usually comes as a complete shock - the news can cause a patronizing and judgemental backlash that they are sending 'the wrong message' to other girls their age. Mostly, it's words like 'glamourizing teen pregnancy' these celebs will hear a lot of - but they are just one of many that add to the staggering statistics.
According to the Today Show, "The United States has the highest rate of teen pregnancies in the industrialized world. Each year, some 750,000 American teens get pregnant. Half of them never consider how pregnancy will affect their lives, and eight out of 10 do not marry the father of their child."
For these following young stars, they have proved that their decision to have children earlier was completely their own. Each of their stories is different, and here they talk openly about their joys and struggles in raising the next generation.
17 20-Year-Old Kylie Jenner Said "30 Is Too Late" To Have A Baby
After months of speculation, Kylie Jenner finally revealed she and boyfriend Travis Scott had welcomed a baby daughter, Stormi Webster, into the world. The news wasn't too shocking as fans had noticed she was absent from Instagram and was making huge efforts to cover her growing bump in public.
But still, nobody expected the 20-year-old would have fallen pregnant so young.
In an older interview with Paper magazine, she said, "I don't want to start (having) a baby when I'm 30! I don't believe in after 30."
The reality star turned makeup guru told Elle magazine that she would also go offline when she had kids. "I would love to have a family and build a home with a farm in Malibu Canyon and just have my kids and throw away my phone, and just really, like, live my life and not (be famous) anymore," she said two years before falling pregnant. Adding, "Once I have a kid I’m not going to be on Instagram. You know, I’ll probably delete my Instagram and just… I don’t know, live life."
16 Pregnant At 16: Jamie Lynn Spears Said Her Family Was "Very [Surprised] And Very Scared"
Jamie Lynn Spears shocked the world when she fell pregnant at just 16-years-old by her then-boyfriend, Casey Aldridge. The Zoey 101 star and little sister of Britney Spears told E! News, "My family's reaction was exactly what you expected it to be: very shocked, very scared for me…but it was all out of love. I was the baby of the family having a baby.
She welcomed her daughter Maddie into the world and that was when she knew she decided to become independent, revealing, "I couldn't have a child and still have mom and dad making decisions for me. "You're just an innocent little girl, and then you look back on how far you came...it's bittersweet." Jamie split from Casey and she married Jamie Watson in 2014, the couple welcomed another girl named Ivey this year.
15 Hard-Working Young Mom Reese Witherspoon Would Bring Her Newborn On Set
Reese Witherspoon met Ryan Phillippe at her 21st birthday party and just two years later they were engaged with a baby on the way.
Now her daughter Ava is 17-years-old and looks the exact image of her mother, and Reese is probably hoping she will also adopt her strong work ethic too.
The Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde star would take Ava on the film set with her and juggled her screentime with being a young mother.
She told In Style magazine, "My mom worked, and I think it’s good for kids to see women working and being successful. I think it’s going to make them hard workers because they see that I don’t get much sleep." She added, "We're all trying to be the best parents we can be."
14 Britney Spears "Couldn't Wait" To Have Kids And Fell Pregnant At 23
23-year-old Britney Spears had lived such a full life she believed the next big step for her was to fall pregnant. Not long before she met her future husband Kevin Federline and fell pregnant, she wrote on her own website, "I've had a career since I was 16, have traveled around the world and back and even kissed Madonna! The only thing I haven't done so far is experience the closest thing to God and that's having a baby. I can't wait!"
Less than 18 months after she met Kevin, the Baby One More Time singer fell pregnant with her first son Sean Preston and a year later along came Jayden James. “My kids come first, always,” she told People magazine. There is nothing more rewarding than being a mom and watching my sons grow into young men."
13 Protective Adele Thought She Had Made The "Wrong Decision" Having Her Son At 24
Rolling In The Deep singer Adele spoke openly and honestly about her struggles with post-partum depression following the birth of her son, Angelo. She told Vanity Fair, "I love my son more than anything, but on a daily basis if I have a minute or two, I wish I could do whatever the [hell] I wanted, whenever I want. Every single day I feel like that."
She added, "I felt very inadequate; I felt like I’d made the worst decision of my life."
"Eventually, I just said, I’m going to give myself an afternoon a week, just to do whatever the [hell] I want without my baby. A friend of mine said, ‘Really? Don’t you feel bad?’ I said, I do, but not as bad as I’d feel if I didn’t do it. It makes you a better mom if you give yourself a better time."
12 Victoria Beckham Said Pregnancy At 24 Was Her "Greatest Life Achievement"
Victoria Beckham was known around the world as Posh Spice during the Spice Girls era. She has since launched her own designer fashion label and has appeared as a guest judge on Project Runway, Germany's Next Topmodel, and American Idol. But her "greatest life achievement" is starting her family at the age of 24-years-old. She and husband David Beckham were still in their early twenties when Brooklyn was born, they then went on to add Romeo, Cruz, and daughter Harper to their growing family.
The busy working mother told Time magazine, "Being a mother is simply the greatest achievement of my life. It has taken me on an unexpected journey that can constantly surprise, educate and confuse me! The emotional connection I feel towards my children brings boundless elation and joy as well as the inevitable worry and concern."
11 Sofia Vergara Said "Everything Started To Come Together" When She Gave Birth At 19
Modern Family bombshell Sofia Vergara is the highest paid TV actress in the world - taking home an annual salary of $43 million. The Colombian beauty is an inspiration for young mothers as she gave birth to her son Manolo when she was just 19-years-old.
She told Redbook, "When I had Manolo, I was 19, and I had the energy for everything."
She was also impressed with how pregnancy and motherhood changed her now-famous figure for the better. Revealing, "I've had this huge (chest) since I was super young. Like, 13. I was really skinny at that time, so it was weird to have (that chest) and be skinny. It was hideous. Then after I had my kid, I got hips and everything started to come together."
10 Kate Hudson: "Being A Young Mom Started Hitting Me"
Kate Hudson recently announced she is expecting a daughter with boyfriend Danny Fujikawa and this time around she won't be a young mom. The 38-year-old actress first fell pregnant with her son Ryder when she was 24-years-old and she revealed, "Being a young mom started hitting me."
During a press call for her film Something Borrowed, she said, "As I started getting older, as (Ryder) started getting older and I was 28, 29, I was like, ‘Wow. I’m a young mom.’ It started hitting me." The soon to be mother-of-three added, "Now I have a little boy who is just his own person... the baby is really starting to go away and now I’m like, ‘I really was a young mom.' I’m so happy that I had a child so young. He is my buddy.”
9 Hilary Duff Felt She Was "Judged" By Hollywood For Being A Young Mom
Hilary Duff was only 22-years-old when she married and then welcomed her first son two years later. The Lizzie Maguire star told The Talk, "I feel like I was judged for having a baby too soon and getting married too soon."
"Now I'm pigeonholed for being a mom."
The former Disney star explained, "Lots of women in this industry don't have a child, yet are judged for not having a child and it's crazy that women - we are the most in demand, and the most desirable, but the most judged and the hardest on one another." Talking about the double standards in Hollywood, she added, "Nobody cares about men's personal lives as much as women's. Nobody says to a 45-year-old guy, "Oh, you don't have any kids yet? Aww, that's so sad.’”
8 Brandy: "I Could Be A Good Example Of A Young, Single Mom"
Singer Brandy Norwood has made a decision to keep her daughter out of the spotlight and she refuses to let her appear on the reality show Brandy & Ray J: A Family Business. She told Parade magazine, "I felt it was best for her to have as much of a normal life as possible. You didn’t see her going to school, me combing her hair, or any aspect of our private, intimate moments, which sort of sucks because our relationship is so beautiful.”
Brandy, who fell pregnant at 23-years-old with daughter Sy'rai, would love to show off her mother-daughter relationship, adding, "I would love for people to see how I’m doing it because I think I could be a good example of a young, single mom.”
7 "Life Is So Good" For Ashlee Simpson, Who Gave Birth At 23
Ashlee Simpson has no regrets falling pregnant at 23-years-old with her son Bronx as she revealed: "Life is so good." The Pieces Of Me singer and sister of Jessica Simpson spoke about being a mom with Today,
"Your priorities in life shift. Your priority becomes your children, and that's something for every woman that becomes a mother. It's all a change for the better. Life is so good with the kids."
Ashlee welcomed a second child, a daughter named Jagger, with Diana Ross' son Evan Ross, and the seven-year age gap between her two kids works well for the family. She said, "Bronx is such a sweet big brother. They have such a different age gap, so it's really sweet to see them interact together. I keep thinking how this is going to be fun when she gets bigger."
6 Pregnant At 18: Bristol Palin Said "This Is Hard Work"
Former Governor of Alaska and Presidential nominee, Sarah Palin was shocked when she discovered her 18-year-old daughter Bristol was pregnant. Bristol had a son named Tripp with her hockey-player boyfriend, Levi Johnston. The young mom told the Today Show, "(A baby) is not just an accessory on your hip. This is hard work. She dropped out of school to give birth to her son and instead chose to take her classes online, juggling motherhood and education.
I’m up all night with (Tripp). I’m constantly changing diapers and making bottles. Your priorities change 100 percent.” Adding, "(Tripp) was not a mistake at all. He’s a blessing." After Sarah Palin lost the election, Bristol and her boyfriend Levi split up and she is now happy living as a single mom.
5 Teen Mom Anna Nicole Smith Was By Her Son's Side Till The End
Anna Nicole Smith was born Vickie Lynn Hogan in Texas, and she began working as a young teenager at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia. There she met cook Billy Wayne Smith and they married when she was just 17-years-old shortly before she gave birth to their son, Daniel, before they split a few years later.
Trying to get by as a single mom, she took a job working as a night dancer at a club in Houston, and there she met and married billionaire oil tycoon 89-year-old J. Howard Marshall II.
She spent more than a decade in court battling for her share of his millions and in this time she found international fame.
Sadly, her life was plagued with heartbreak and Daniel tragically died at the age of 20. Then at the age of 39, Anna was found unconscious in a Hollywood hotel room and was pronounced dead at the scene. She was buried in the Bahamas beside her son.
4 Natalia Vodianova Found It "Completely Normal" To Fall Pregnant At 18
Russian supermodel, Natalia Vodianova, who has worked with top luxury designers Saint Laurent and Louis Vuitton, said juggling motherhood and work in her late teens was "completely normal." She fell pregnant at 18-years-old with her daughter and she told W magazine, "Where I come from, it was normal to have a baby at 19. Maybe most of the Western girls brought up with a family that was strong for them would say, 'You're very precious, are you sure about this guy?' No one told me I was precious in that sense, so love, for me, was that precious thing. It made sense to me completely."
She now has five children and continues to be a full-time working mom. On reflection, she added. "Would I recommend the same thing to my daughter today? Absolutely not."
3 Keisha Castle-Hughes Pregnant At 16: "I Just Did The Best I Could"
Aged 13-years-old, Keisha Castle-Hughes landed the lead role for the movie Whale Rider and despite not having any previous acting experience, she was nominated for Best Actress In A Lead Role at the Academy Awards. Then at 16, she fell pregnant with her daughter Felicity-Amore and gave birth one month after her 17th birthday.
In an open interview with Vanity Fair, she recalled, "I kind of felt like a dirty girl who had done something wrong."
"I didn’t want to become the poster girl for teenage pregnancy, but I wasn’t focused on that or what other people were thinking. I just did the best I could."
Adding, "It was completely unplanned, but having Felicity was the best thing that could ever have happened to me. For years, everyone had had a piece of me, telling me what to do, when and how to do it, how to spend my money, how to behave, what to wear. Suddenly I had this little girl who was mine."
2 Solange Knows People Will "Count Out" Teenage Moms Just Like Her
Beyonce's younger sister, Solange Knowles, has a lot of advice for young moms, and she knows best after falling pregnant with her son Daniel Julez Jr when she was just 17-year-old. In an emotional letter she wrote to her younger self which was published in Teen Vogue, she revealed that the same year her son was born - she also lost her best friend in a drive-by shooting.
The Don't Touch My Hair singer wrote, "Seventeen will be the hardest year of your life. It will grow you up almost immediately. You will lose your best friend whom you love so much to gun violence in a single moment and give birth to a new one within a year."
"You will be terrified, and it’s ok that you don’t know what the future holds. Some people will count you out because of the decision you’ve made to bring another life into the world so young, but you made the decision out of love and will live with the decision in love."
1 Shirley Temple Went From Child Star To Teen Mom
Child star Shirley Temple was out-earning some of the most famous names in Hollywood by the time she was just six years old. At the height of her fame in the 1930s-40s, she could command up to $300,000 a film and had a lucrative contract with 20th Century Fox.
Her parents were very strict about their daughter's fame, and she wasn't allowed to read any of her fan mail or receive "special attention" on set until she was older.
At the age of 15, she met Army Air Corps sergeant John Agar and the couple married when she was 17. Age 19, she gave birth to a daughter Linda Susan, but her biggest struggle was her marriage. Shirley divorced her husband a year after the birth, and she was awarded sole custody.
References: people.com, usmagazine.com, dailymail.co.uk, radaronline.com
