Celebrities With Really Young Parents

Becoming a first-time parent isn't easy, but doing it as teenage mother? That sort of pressure is incomparable. From battling the hushed whispers that you may have made a grave mistake to the constant struggle of having to provide for your baby while growing up yourself, the sacrifices teen parents make are incredible.

While the long-term belief that having children as a teenager will make life much more strenuous for both kids and parents, studies actually provide some hope for young mothers and fathers. According to a paper published by the The National Bureau of Economic Research, "Teen childbearing ... is not an additional cause of later difficulties in life. Surprisingly, teen birth itself does not appear to have much direct economic consequence." The findings go on to show that a low socioeconomic status doesn't happen because of childbirth — but because of other social problems.

Celebs who once had teen parents show that success stories exist and that the stigma of being born from a young mother isn't always accurate. In fact, a lot of the time, A-listers even thank their parents for the sacrifices they've made and the creative minds they've developed in their children. Let's take a look at some celebrities with really young parents. 

Any Selena Gomez fan knows the pop star is close to her mom, Mandy Teefey. From taking her as a red carpet date countless times to gushing about her on social media, the two definitely share a bond. When Time honored Gomez for being a trailblazer and the first user to reach 100 million followers on Instagram, the "Come and Get It" crooner gave her mom some credit, revealing, "She was 16 [when she gave birth to me] ... Everything that I am has become a little bit of what my mom's gone through." 

Although Gomez has a lot of respect for Teefey now that she's an adult, the starlet admitted that she'd blamed her mom for her parents' divorce growing up. "I remember just being angry with my mom. I still feel really bad about that," she said in an E! Entertainment Special (via HuffPost), adding, "My mom gave up everything for me ... [she] sacrificed her life for me." 

Although Sel and her mom are on great terms now, even the strongest bonds can become weak at times. 2018, for example, saw Gomez act in a Woody Allen film — something Teefey didn't support. The spat got so bad, in fact, that it resulted in a public feud on Instagram between the two. Yikes!

Eminem's mother, Debbie Mathers, had the same troubled upbringing as her son, Marshall. Per Fox News, Debbie had Marshall when she was only 17 years old, with the delivery being beyond grueling. According to Exclaim, she incredibly went through 73 hours of labor that nearly killed her. Poor and finding herself in an extremely abusive relationship, she ran away from Marshall's father, raising the future rap prodigy and his younger brother all by herself. 

Considering the "Lose Yourself" hitmaker has rapped about his ruined relationship with his mother and wanting to supposedly murder her, was his upbringing really as horrible as he makes it seem? For her part, Debbie has claimed her son's rhymes are pure fiction. "I'm an alcoholic and I'm a pothead and I'm all those things — it's just for show," she explained to Fox News, before adding, "It was kind of hard at first, and then I had to just basically learn it was just all for show."

Although Eminem has never come out to admit that his songs are fabricated, he did apologize to his mom for all the things he's rapped about her in his 2013 song, "Headlights" (via Rolling Stone). He even claimed that he doesn't perform "Cleanin' Out My Closet" anymore due to the hurtful lyrics about Debbie.

Hate him or love him, there's no denying 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) had a wild life before his climb to rap superstardom. Dealing drugs at the age of 12, Curtis just kept hustling, and the eventual story of getting shot nine times at close range has become that of hip-hop lore. So, who does he have to thank for becoming as hard as he is? His mother, Sabrina Jackson.

In an interview with The Big Issue, the "Candy Shop" rapper revealed his mom had him when she was just 15 years old, quickly resorting to a life of drug-dealing so she could "give [him] what [he] needed." As he explained, "She had spent a lot of time away from me, she was always hustling. She had to be very tough ... she had to adapt."

Tragically, Sabrina passed away when she was only 23, found drugged and gassed with the killer still at large. "After I lost my mom, I can remember feeling like I wanted to go into a park but it was raining outside, and I felt like it was raining because my mom was dead," the rapper heartbreakingly revealed to Interview magazine. "Went to her funeral and everything and still didn't understand what was going on. Just knew that everything that was good went away."

Louis Tomlinson was very close to his mother, Johannah Deakin, who had him when she was only 19 years old. "What I loved about my relationship with my mum ... is that it never felt like there was a generation gap," the former One Direction member told The Sun in an intimate interview. "I witnessed that with so many of my friends. You know, 'My mum just doesn't get it.'"

Tragically, Deakin lost her battle with leukemia in 2017 — something that was very hard for Tomlinson to face. "My mum worked two jobs, we lived upstairs above a newsagents. All that life in Doncaster, working-class and seeing the struggle, just teaches you to have thick skin," he explained. "I just have this ability, that has to have been forced by my mum, to just get on with s**t."

As it turns out, however, every tragedy seems to have a silver lining, as it's his mother's passing that caused a reconciliation between the "Two of Us" crooner and Zayn Malik, the first One Direction member to leave the band. "My mum said, 'You've got to get back in contact with Zayn. Life's too f**king short,'" the former boy band member explained to The Sun. Meeting up with his once-best pal, Tomlinson admitted that there's finally no bad blood between the two. 

Eric Clapton's childhood was so out of the ordinary, it was actually a significant inspiration for his incredibly honest book, Eric Clapton: The Autobiography. Considering the singer's mother was highly absent during his upbringing, it eventually "led him to look for her in other women," according to the Daily Mail. While it sounds like a basic Freudian theory, the story of Clapton's childhood is totally surreal. 

The "Layla" crooner's real mother, Pat, had an affair during the second world war, officially having her son when she was a young 16-year-old teenager. Giving birth to him "in the back bedroom of her mother and stepfather's two-bedroom house" in 1945 (via the Daily Mail), Clapton was then raised by his grandmother, Rose Clapp, and her second husband, Jack. Meanwhile, Pat was known to be his older sister, who moved to Canada after marrying a Canadian airman.

If that story isn't crazy enough, when Eric was seven years old, he heard his aunt ask Rose, "Have you heard from his mum?" leaving the child utterly confused. The rock star admitted that his relationship with his mother is better now — when the duo drinks together. "Our relationship developed as friends," Clapton told the Daily Mail. "Whenever I needed a mother figure, she wouldn't be the person I'd go to."

Any fan who has followed Lil Wayne's career knows the rapper has much more meaningful tracks than his famous "Lollipop" banger. In fact, many times, Wayne (real name Dwayne Jr.), has rapped about the most important woman in his life — his mother.

According to CBC, Jacida (Cita) Carter, had Lil Wayne when she was 19, raising him alone as his father abandoned them shortly after his birth. At the very young age of eight, the rap prodigy joined his first group, K.W.A. (Kidz with Attitude). He had an obvious talent, yet Cita still wanted to protect him from the harsh realities rap culture brought, too. According to Global News, she "banned" him from rapping when he was 12 — causing him to shoot himself in the chest with her pistol. He just missed his heart, and would speak out about that suicide attempt years later during a speech at the BET Awards in order to "help people in similar situations."

Surprisingly enough, Weezy would follow in his mother's footsteps and become a teen parent himself, welcoming his first child Reginae Carter at the age of 16. We all know he spoils her immensely, as who could forget that episode of MTV's My Super Sweet 16 starring hip-hop royalty's famous daughter.

If you or someone you know is having suicidal thoughts, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or text HOME to the Crisis Text Line at 741741.

Musicality must run in Dr. Dre's family, as his mother, Verna Griffin, was also part of a group when she was younger. 

According to Dr. Dre: The Biography, Griffin quit her band, Four Aces, when she was 15 and found out she was pregnant (via Slate). "My birthday was February 4th. He was born two weeks later exactly, February 18th," she told NPR in 2008. "He was sort of like a birthday present and a little doll, you know. Something you could undress and re-dress. And I just, you know, I learned, I read books, child psychology books. Because I wanted to be a good mother and prove all these people wrong that in the neighborhood." Griffin did an excellent job at it, too, as Dre miraculously stayed clear of local gangs, although the family grew up in L.A.'s Compton area. Per Exclaim, she often moved her brood around "If they [were] being picked on or appeared to be in danger."

As revealed in Griffin's own memoir, Long Road Outta Compton, the former N.W.A. member eventually followed in his mother's footsteps when he was 17 and got his girlfriend at the time, Lisa Johnson, pregnant (via Page Six). She later gave birth to his first child, La Tonya Danielle.

Jack Nicholson was once a notorious ladies' man in Hollywood. His reputation was so vast, in fact, that it is to be said that he's reportedly been with more women than any other star in Tinseltown — Warren Beatty not included. 

So, who exactly does The Shining star have to thank for his wooing techniques? The family of women who raised him. According to the Mirror, the actor was born in New Jersey in 1937 to his 18-year-old mother, June Nicholson. As she was so young, she agreed to have her own mother raise him, while she would be referred to as his sister. 

As revealed in an interview with Rolling Stone, June's mother, Ethel, remarried to a husband who was "presented" to Jack as his father — yet he was never around. Because of this, Jack was raised in a household of ladies. "These were strong women — made their own way in a period of time when it just wasn't done that much. They did it without connections," the Batman actor dished to the mag, before musing about his fave kind of woman. "My basic model for women is an independent woman. There was no grandeur in that for me, because it was that way from the beginning ... They all had a great lot of style, and a lot of fun."

Jared Leto certainly had a colorful upbringing thanks to his mom, Constance Metrejon. Having Leto when she was 19, Metrejon raised him all on her own as his father walked out on the two shortly after he was born. As revealed by The Sun, the family moved from state to state and relied on food stamps. According to the mag, by the time the Mr. Nobody actor was eight, "He had lived in four different states and home was often their truck."

The A-lister has nothing but praise for his childhood, however, crediting his mother for his creative exposure and calling her a "hippy," noting that he was "raised around a lot of artists, musicians, photographers and people in theatre."

Years later, Leto would honor his mom when he accepted an Oscar for best supporting actor for his work in Dallas Buyers Club. "In 1971, Bossier City, Louisiana, there was a teenage girl who was pregnant with her second child," he said. "She was a high school dropout and a single mom, but somehow she managed to make a better life for herself and her children. She encouraged her kids to be creative, to work hard, and to do something special. That girl is my mother and she's here tonight. And I just want to say, I love you, Mom. Thank you for teaching me to dream." Just like that, our hearts totally melted.

Although former President Barack Obama's mother, Stanley Ann Dunham Soetoro, had him while she was just a teen, it definitely didn't hinder her from enlisting essential values in her son. According to ABC News, Soetoro discreetly tied the knot with Barack Obama Sr. in Hawaii, as interracial marriage was still illegal in most states, when she was only 18. After Obama's father left for Massachusetts to get a master's degree from Harvard, the future politician and his mother moved to Indonesia when she decided to remarry.

While living abroad, Obama's mother wanted to make sure her son was well-educated. According to NPR, Soetoro would wake Obama up before dawn and review his English language skills. As Janny Scott, author of Soetoro's biography, A Singular Woman, told the media outlet, "She believed that he deserved the kind of opportunities that she had had [like] the opportunity to a great university."

As it turns out, Obama thanks his mother for a lot more besides his education. While speaking about his family to Time, Obama noted, "We've created stability for our kids in a way that my mom didn't do for us. My choosing to put down roots in Chicago and marry a woman who is very rooted in one place probably indicates a desire for stability that maybe I was missing."

Oprah Winfrey credits her mother, Vernita Lee, for shaping her to be the philanthropist she is today. USA Today reports that Lee gave birth in Mississippi when she was 18, naming her little girl Orpah. Eventually, due to everyone mispronouncing it, the future media mogul's mom settled on Oprah. Knowing she couldn't provide for her daughter, Lee left Winfrey with her mother and moved to Milwaukee to find work. Finally acquiring a job as a maid and somewhat establishing herself, Winfrey finally moved to live with her mother after six years.

The former talk show host had a very important Christmas in Milwaukee when she was 12 — something that still resonates with her today. During the holiday season, her mother explained that "Santa Claus was not coming that year" because she didn't have money for gifts (via USA Today). Miraculously, on Christmas Eve, local "nuns brought food and toys for Winfrey and her siblings," the publication reports. The experience stuck to her, and Winfrey once said she believes generosity enlarges "the spirit of somebody else."

With her mother working so hard to provide for her, Winfrey would return the favor after achieving success on The Oprah Winfrey Show. During a 2010 interview with Barbara Walters (per People), Winfrey explained, "[I wanted] to take care of them and to provide for them and to make sure that they never had to want for anything as they tried to do for me."

Country star Gretchen Wilson shot to superstardom with her single, "Redneck Woman," but little did listeners know that the song actually hit closer to home than most people realized.

"Being a redneck is just a way of life. It's where I came from," the Grammy-winning artist told CBS News. With her mother giving birth to Wilson when she was just 16, she was already divorced twice by the time she was 20. Working as a bartender and struggling to pay the bills, the country singer's family moved around constantly. "I lived on every side of these tracks," Wilson quipped. "Most of the time, [we moved to] trailers." After bouncing around 20 schools, Wilson eventually dropped out in grade eight and started helping her mom serve drinks at a bar. Finally, after living at home with an alcoholic mother, the "Homewrecker" vocalist packed up her bags and moved to Nashville to launch her singing career. 

When Wilson made it big, she generously moved herself and her mother into a new home — where her mother got clean. Even better? With her newfound success, Wilson decided to go back and finish her G.E.D. Gushing to Access, the music star explained, "For three or four years, I was that redneck woman from the little bitty town with the eighth-grade education ... And [now] I'm prouder."