10 Celebrities Who Became Parents Very Young

10 Celebrities Who Became Parents Very Young

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re looking at the celebrities who became parents when they were not that far removed from being children themselves.

Shirley Temple

Even today, Shirley Temple is one of the first names that comes to mind when somebody says “child star.” There is a reason the drink named after her, a delicious mix of ginger ale and grenadine, is a mocktail, not a cocktail! So, it might surprise some people to learn that she became a mother with her child star days barely in the rearview. The actor married John Agar when she was just 17, and the couple had their first kid, daughter Linda Susan Agar, only a couple of years later.

Machine Gun Kelly

With his recent shift to a pop punk phase while in his 30s, some might feel like Machine Gun Kelly, real name Colson Baker, is stuck in a state of perpetual adolescence. That may or may not be true, but the rapper, singer, and actor has two children of his own, the first of which he had when he was in his late teens. He welcomed daughter Casie with his ex-girlfriend Emma Cannon in July 2009. "[He] definitely gives a lot of advice. He’s more like a hype man, though," Casie has said about MGK’s style of parenting.

Taylor Hanson

Pop rock boy band Hanson, best known for their 1997 smash hit “MMMBop” was formed by siblings Isaac, Zac, and Taylor Hanson when they were only 16, 11, and 14, respectively. Five years after the band began, Taylor, the middle brother, had his first son in 2002 at age 19. Now, while the band of brothers only had three members, Hanson was the second of his parents’ seven children. Perhaps it was he and his brother’s prosperity that compelled him to follow in his parents’ footsteps and have seven children of his own. After all, with that many kids, at least three of them are bound to be successful – especially if they form a band.

Sofía Vergara

“Modern Family” star Sofía Vergara married her high school boyfriend, Joe Gonzalez, when she was barely an adult at just 18 years old. A year later, in 1991, their son, named Manolo Gonzalez Vergara after a character in “Scarface,” was born in Colombia. To this day, he remains Vergara’s only child. Sofía and Joe are now not only mother and son, but business partners. Two of their endeavors include co-producing the show “Celebrity Family Food Battle” together and co-founding a Latin cuisine brand called Toma.

LeBron James

Legendary baller LeBron James had his first son, LeBron Jr., nicknamed “Bronny,” with his high school girlfriend, now wife, Savannah James, when he was 19, and she was 18. Bronny followed in his father’s footsteps, becoming a basketball prodigy in high school – even, two decades after his father’s own selection, playing in the McDonald's All-American game. Even more remarkably, he would go on to join the National Basketball Association, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers, the same team as his father. Together, they are making history as the very first active father and son duo to ever be part of the league.

Anna Nicole Smith

In 1984, while employed at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia, Texas, Anna Nicole Smith met cook Billy Wayne Smith, and they got married a year later. A classic story of young love! Unfortunately, the couple was incredibly young when they met – Anna was 17, and Billy was even younger at 16. The relationship did not last. The couple separated in 1987 after having a son, Daniel Wayne Smith, the previous year. Tragically, Daniel would pass away in 2006 from an accidental overdose while visiting his mother at the hospital after she had given birth to his half-sister, Dannielynn, three days earlier.

Solange Knowles

Singer Solange Knowles, known as a fantastic musician in her own right, but also the sister of superstar Beyoncé Knowles, married her first husband, Daniel Smith, in 2004 at just 17 years of age. The same year, at 18, she had her first child with him, named Daniel Julez Smith Jr. Today, Smith Jr. is a model who made his debut during New York Fashion Week in 2024, with Auntie Beyoncé watching in the front row! Technically, though, his first model job arrived when he was just three years old, acting as the face of a hip-hop-flavored toy line called “Baby Jamz.”

Fantasia Barrino

When Fantasia Barrino won season three of “American Idol” in 2004 at age 19, she was, at the time, the youngest singer to win the show yet. She was even younger, though, when she had her daughter, Zion, at just 17, becoming a single mom after dropping out of high school three years earlier, having been a victim of sexual assault. This was an incredibly challenging time for the star, with Barrino and her daughter still surviving on welfare when she auditioned for “Idol.” The singer said of that time in her life, “I was a child, and I didn’t know what I was doing. But I knew that I was going to take care of her and show her something different.” What an inspiration!

Jamie Lynn Spears

Just like her older sister, pop star Britney Spears, Jamie Lynn Spears found fame as a teenager, starring in the hit Nickelodeon sitcom “Zoey 101.” But the younger Spears sister found herself embroiled in scandal even younger, with her Nickelodeon days ending abruptly around the time she became pregnant at just 16. Her daughter with then-fiancé Casey Aldridge, Maddie, was born after Spears turned 17. Looking back, she says there was a time when she was insecure about being “the youngest mom in the room,” but she “quickly learned that being a good and competent mother has nothing to do with age.”

Lil Wayne

In 1998, hip-hop legend Lil Wayne and his ex-wife Antonia “Toya” Johnson-Rushing became parents to his first child, daughter Reginae, when the rapper was only 16. 20 years later, she would be featured on her father’s track “Famous” off 2018’s “Tha Carter V” — when the song was released, she called it the happiest day of her life. Apart from the collaboration with her dad, Reginae is establishing herself as an actor, model, and entrepreneur. She credits Wayne with teaching her a lot about being part of the industry – specifically the importance of a thick skin, staying true to yourself, and not letting anybody tell you what to do.

Did we miss your favorite star who was once young and pregnant? Let us know in the comments!