Having a baby isn't easy no matter how old you are, even when you're a celebrity.
Though many Hollywood celebs pursue parenthood later in life, these stars became moms and
dads much earlier!
Modern Family star Sofia Vergara gave birth to her son, Manolo, in 1992 when she was just
19 years old.
Though she and Manolo's father are no longer together, he was her high school sweetheart,
and the pair still co-parent.
Though he's now old enough to be a dad himself, Manolo could instead become a big brother
in the near future.
He walked his mom down the aisle at her November 2015 wedding to actor Joe Manganiello and
prior to the ceremony, a 42-year-old Sofia told Redbook that she's not opposed to having
children with Manganiello, revealing:
"I tell him if we're going to do this, we have to do it, like, now, because I don't
want to be 50 with a baby."
There's having kids young, and then there's Aretha Franklin.
The soul legend passed away at age 76 in 2018 after a battle with pancreatic cancer, leaving
behind four children, the first of which she gave birth to when she was still a child herself.
Franklin was just 12-years-old when she welcomed her first son, Clarence.
He was fathered by a school friend named Donald Burk and named after Franklin's preacher father.
The Queen of Soul gave birth to another boy when she was 14, just around the time that
her career was taking off, and then later gave birth to two more sons.
All of Aretha's children have inherited touches of her musical genius.
Tabloids went berserk when pop icon Britney Spears' baby sister had a baby of her own.
Jamie Lynn Spears was just 16 and starring on Nickelodeon's Zoey 101 when she revealed
she was expecting with then-boyfriend Casey Aldridge in 2007.
The kids network quickly, but cordially, distanced itself from Jamie Lynn's growing belly and
her controversial on-again off-again romance with Aldridge, who was nearly two years her
senior.
She gave birth to daughter Maddie Briann Aldridge in 2008.
"To be a mother is to be a mother, doesn't matter what age you are."
After splitting from Casey in 2010, Jamie Lynn moved to Nashville and eventually released
a country album.
In 2014, she married businessman Jamie Watson, owner of Advanced Media Partners.
When asked about the controversy surrounding her teen pregnancy, Jamie Lynn told Tinseltown
Mom in 2014:
"Being a mom in general is hard, no matter your age.
So, I will never let my age be an excuse to be any less of the mother that my daughter
deserves.
I think the hardest thing was knowing there were young girls who looked up to me, and
wouldn't understand this."
Atlanta rap legend Lil Wayne was just 16 when his daughter, Reginae "Nae" Carter, was born.
By the time Nae herself reached that age, she was already a fixture in the spotlight,
having starred in a rather memorable episode of My Super Sweet 16.
Not only did Nicki Minaj perform live at her party, Nae also received two new cars from
from her dad, a BMW and a Ferrari.
She shared at the time:
"And I'm daddy's little girl, and he showers me with whatever I want"
But then in 2009, Nae was the target of a death hoax that went viral.
The prank claimed she perished in a car crash, and her famous father was forced to respond,
calling the story, quote, "completely false and unfounded."
While being in the spotlight can be tough, Nae and daddy dearest have remained close.
She's even featured on Weezy's hit 2018 album, laying down the chorus for the song "Famous."
Speaking to GQ in 2011, Lil Wayne said he planned to retire at age 35 so he could focus
solely on his kids, of which he now has four.
Of course, by now age 35 has come and gone, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down.
When the now TV legend Oprah Winfrey realized she was pregnant at only 14 years old, she
tried to hide her growing belly so no one would know.
"And I remember having a moment thinking, 'now I am officially a bad girl.'"
Oprah's tumultuous childhood, which was rife with abuse, molestation, and rape, reached
a turning point when her baby tragically died in the hospital soon after its birth.
For decades, Winfrey kept her pregnancy a secret, until a relative sold the story to
a tabloid in 1990 for $19,000.
"That was my biggest life secret and I lived in such fear of that secret coming out."
Winfrey had feared the truth would damage the career she'd worked so hard to achieve.
But it turned out her fears were unfounded.
"It was the greatest relief of my life and I found out the people who loved me, still
loved me."
Though Winfrey has no other biological children, she has dedicated herself to improving the
lives of children at risk, particularly young girls.
In 2007, she launched the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls in South Africa.
Most people recognize Roseanne Barr for her unapologetic stand-up comedy and self-titled
sitcom, Roseanne, but she struggled mightily as a teenager.
She dropped out of high school and was living nearly destitute when she gave birth to her
first daughter at age 18 and made the difficult decision to give the infant up for adoption.
In the years that followed, Barr tried to protect her child's privacy, but as the comedian's
fame intensified, the press uncovered her secret and even tracked down her daughter.
Barr and her firstborn, Brandi Brown, have since developed a warm and tight-knit relationship.
Recalling their reunion for People in 1989, Barr said:
"She's a really cool kid.
I saw a lot of me in her.
She's intuitive, trusts her perceptions and feelings and listens to what's not spoken.
That's how I've lived my life."
Reality star Emily Maynard was shattered when she lost her fiance in a plane crash when
she was still a teenager, but the emotions were compounded when she found out she was
pregnant with his child shortly after his passing.
She gave birth to their daughter, Ricki, on her own, but she refused to give up on finding
love.
Maynard appeared on Season 15 of The Bachelor and won, receiving an offer of marriage from
Brad Womack.
It didn't last, however, and neither did her subsequent engagement to Jef Holm, who she
met when she returned to The Bachelorette in 2012.
At that point, Maynard started to believe that she would never be a bride...at least
for a while.
She told People magazine in 2017:
"I gave in to the idea that maybe marriage and that life was not for me.
[...] I really had to come to terms with the fact that maybe it was going to be just Ricki
and me forever.
Then I met Tyler, and I knew that was not the plan."
The new Mrs. Tyler Johnson wasted no time expanding her family, they had three boys
in less than three years.
She told People:
"I've always wanted a lot of kids.
I made it clear on our first day, 'Listen, my clock's ticking, and I'm ready to get on
this!'"
Despite having no prior acting experience, New Zealander Keisha Castle-Hughes was plucked
from a pool of "several hundred young girls" to star in 2002's Whale Rider.
She gave a performance that even the Academy itself couldn't ignore, the 13-year-old was
nominated for best actress, becoming the youngest actress to make the shortlist in that category
at the time.
Just three short years later, Castle-Hughes was only 16 when she revealed that she was
carrying her 19-year-old boyfriend's child.
The Kiwi media went after her hard, dubbing her "New Zealand's Lindsay Lohan" and publicly
shaming her for becoming a teen mom.
Luckily, the actress found support in her personal life.
"I was really lucky I had like incredible family support around me.
My family have always been very close."
The actress, who now counts Star Wars and Game of Thrones among her credits, said she
wouldn't change a thing.
Bristol Palin made waves in 2008 when it was revealed that she was expecting a child at
age 17.
The news made headlines because her mom, former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, was running for
vice president of the United States as a conservative Christian Republican with family values that
included abstinence.
"It is our top story tonight Governor Sarah Palin reveals her 17 year old daughter is
pregnant."
Bristol and then-boyfriend Levi Johnston tried making it work, with Bristol giving birth
to baby Tripp in December 2008.
The young parents split in 2010, after stirring up a whole lot of additional controversy,
including spreads in Playgirl and a contentious custody battle.
In March 2015, Bristol got engaged to U.S. Marine Dakota Meyer, but a couple months later,
they called off the wedding just days before walking down the aisle.
In June 2015, Bristol announced that she was pregnant with Meyer's child, and in December
2015, she gave birth to daughter Sailor Grace.
By June 2016, she and Meyer were married.
Then they had another daughter named Atlee Bay in May 2017.
In 2018, Bristol split from Meyer and joined the cast of MTV's Teen Mom OG.
"God gave me a platform and that was to serve others."
"So that's why I decided to do it, to hopefully encourage others and let them know life isn't
over after divorce."
Singer Dev was in the midst of releasing her debut album when she had her daughter, Emilia,
in December 2011, at just 22.
The singer documented the experience with an MTV special.
She told PrideSource in 2013 that being a mom hasn't curbed her lifestyle much.
She revealed:
"I love being able to travel with my daughter or bring her to the studio or sit at home
and watch Bubble Guppies for 10 hours on repeat."
Like her superstar sister, Beyoncé, Solange Knowles started singing and recording material
at a young age, but all that had to be put on the back burner when she got pregnant at
age 17 with her son, Julez.
Her marriage to Julez's father, Daniel Smith, didn't last, but all three still get along
and Julez attended Coachella 2018 with his dad.
Solange has dabbled in acting in addition to her music career, continuing to evolve
as an entertainer despite the nontraditional Hollywood timing.
She told Harper's Bazaar:
"Just going through a marriage and a divorce, which I essentially did by 21, will give you
an insane amount of perspective on life."
It may not surprise you that Charlie Sheen has a bunch of kids.
It's usually his two daughters with Denise Richards, Sam and Lola, or his two sons with
Brooke Mueller, Max and Bob, that end up in the news.
But what many people don't realize is that Sheen has a fifth, much older child.
Cassandra Estevez was born when her dad was still a fresh-faced 19-year-old coming into
his own in Hollywood.
And in 2014, Sheen sat with David Letterman to announce a major milestone:
"You are going to be, in the next several months, fill in the blank, you are going to
be a..."
"Grandfather."
"Yes."
Aww.
Actress Reese Witherspoon met her first husband, actor Ryan Phillippe, at her 21st birthday.
The pair hit it off and a whirlwind romance followed.
Witherspoon was around six months pregnant when they tied the knot in June 1999, shortly
after filming teen drama Cruel Intentions together.
The actress was 23 when she gave birth to daughter Ava, who these days could probably
pass for her twin.
Witherspoon and Phillippe also welcomed a son named Deacon in 2003 before they separated.
Witherspoon welcomed a third child into the world almost a decade later, giving birth
to Tennessee James with her second husband, talent agent Jim Toth in 2012.