Jamie Lynn Spears Doesn't Want Her Daughters to 'Feel Pain'
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When news broke in 2007 that a 16-year-old Jamie Lynn Spears was pregnant, the tabloids had a field day. A Nickelodeon star expecting a child? Britney's little sister, a teen mom? The headlines were ruthless. "All that stuff was said about me?" Spears said a decade later. "What a bunch of a-holes."
Now 32 and a married mother of two, Spears is focused on keeping a positive outlook, particularly when it comes to parenthood. On Mother’s Day this year, the Sweet Magnolias star wrote on Instagram, “I know motherhood is one of the hardest job at times, and how the mother/child relationships can be really complicated as well. I really try to not take any of it for granted though, even when the kids or my mom are making me lose my mind.” Relatable!
Perhaps less relatable, though, is the extent to which Spears has to shield her children from the constant headlines surrounding her family.
“It just makes me sad when I think about my kids,” she recently told Variety. “I don’t ever want them to feel the pain or the scrutiny. That’s not necessary and it’s not theirs to carry. So I’ll carry it. That’s fine.”
Read on to learn more about Jamie Lynn Spears and her children.
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How many kids does Jamie Lynn Spears have?
Jamie Lynn Spears has two children: a daughter named Maddie Briann Aldridge, born June 19, 2008; and a daughter named Ivey Joan Watson, born April 11, 2018.
Who are the fathers of Jamie Lynn Spears’ kids?
Casey Aldridge
When Spears was 12 weeks pregnant with her first child, she and her mother, Lynne, confirmed the news to OK! magazine, revealing that the father was her longtime boyfriend Casey Aldridge, 18. “It was a shock for both of us, so unexpected,” Spears reportedly told OK!. “I was in complete and total shock and so was he.”
The couple had been in a relationship for two years prior to becoming parents and were rumored to have gotten engaged in March 2008, just months before the birth of their daughter. But by December 2009, Spears had reportedly moved out of their shared home in Liberty, Mississippi.
In her 2022 memoir, Things I Should Have Said, the Zoey 101 star wrote, "His disinterest, lack of fatherly attention, and disregard for our needs was evident in most of his decisions."
Jamie Watson
Following her separation from Casey, Jamie Lynn Spears entered a relationship with businessman Jamie Watson, who owns the communications firm Advanced Media Partners. The couple got engaged in March 2013 and exchanged vows in New Orleans in March 2014. In April 2018, they celebrated the arrival of their daughter, Ivey.
"I was an 18 year old single mom when this guy came into my life," Spears wrote on Instagram for their 8-year anniversary. "He made me laugh more then I ever had before, and his never changing consistency gave me stability for the first time in my life. Maybe it was just because he was 10 years older and had already established a successful life for himself both personally and professionally, but nonetheless, I felt a sense of peace with him, and I think that’s what being in love is suppose to feel like, just feeling at peace."
Who are Jamie Lynn Spears kids?
Maddie Briann Aldridge (June 19, 2008)
It's hard to believe, but Spears' eldest daughter, Maddie, recently turned 15 (how old does that make you?!). “Happy 15th Birthday to my miracle angel baby girl 🤍🤍🤍 thank you, God for making me her mama," Spears wrote on Instagram.
The family had a major scare in 2017 when Maddie, then 8, got into an ATV accident and wound up under water for more than six minutes, when an off-road vehicle she was driving in Kentwood, Louisiana, flipped into a pond. “I was in the hospital pleading, just pleading for her life,” Spears told Today. “I said, Take it all. I don’t care. You can have it all. Just give me my baby girl back.’”
Spears was 16 when she found out she was pregnant with her first child. After sharing the news with her family, she recalled in her memoir, “one person after another—and there were many—came to my room trying to convince me that having a baby at this point in my life was a terrible idea."
Ivey Joan Watson (April 11, 2018)
Jamie Lynn was a decade older when she next gave birth, this time to Ivey Joan Watson. "As we all know, there was a lot of chaos around my last pregnancy," she told People shortly after the arrival of her second daughter. "This time, it's just been a really peaceful experience. I think the only difference is the support system I have around me."
"I'm much more sure of myself as a young mother [now]," she continued. "As a new mother with your first child, you are questioning and guessing everything. And as you go into it the second time, you're like, 'I got this. I figured this out one time before; I can do it again.' You have a little more confidence in yourself."
On Ivey’s fifth birthday this year, Jamie Lynn posted sweet photos from her daughter’s Barbie-themed party. It is the summer of Barbie, so this only goes to show this family is always on-trend.
Related: Jamie Lynn Spears Reflects on 'Hard' Feud With Britney
How far apart in age are Jamie Lynn Spears’ daughters?
Jamie Lynn Spears' daughters, Maddie and Ivey, are about 10 years apart in age.
Is Jamie Lynn Spears married now?
Jamie Lynn is married to businessman Jamie Watson, whom she wed in March 2014.
"He's the kind of dad that every little girl deserves to have," Spears told People in 2018. "When I saw that, I was like, 'Oh my gosh, this is the man I love.'"
Next, Everything We Know About the Upcoming Britney Spears Memoir, The Woman in Me