Now that we think of it, it actually has been a while since we've heard from Jamie Lynn Spears.
Britney Spears' younger sister got knocked up when she was just 16 and has since dedicated the past 4 years of her life raising her daughter Mattie. Now that she's on the verge of turning 21, she wants to show the world how much she's grown.
The single mother opened up in a new and very honest interview with Glamour magazine about what life has been like as a teen mom and what she wants to tell other girls who are in the same situation what it's like to be a young mother.
And with new music on the way, it seems that Jamie Lynn is in a very good place right now.
Here's part of her very candid interview:
It was 2007. I had been on a Nickelodeon show, Zoey 101, and after we wrapped shooting, I just wanted to go home to Louisiana and finish high school, be a cheerleader, all that. Then I found out I was pregnant [by then- boyfriend Casey Aldridge]. I was 16. I'd had one boyfriend. It doesn't make it perfect or all right. But I was judged for something that probably most everyone does. I was young. I was in love. I was like every other teenager, except I had this last name. And I made a decision that is forever my decision.
Casey was my first love. Since the day I saw him, I just wanted to marry him and be with him forever and ever. I believe in safety and birth control as prevention. But like many young girls…I was really scared to go to the doctor. And I was on a Nickelodeon show, and it [felt] especially embarrassing to ask someone to put me on birth control. I didn't want to ask my doctor, because she had a little girl.
On her decision to dedicate her time to raising Maddie:
"I just wanted to get away from it as much as I could, to just go away and be a mom and figure out what I wanted, and to earn a sense of respect back for myself. Move to a town in the middle of nowhere and just raise my child. All I could be was a good mother. If anybody had anything to say after that, there was nothing I could do."
Being a teen mom:
"When I saw MTV's Teen Mom was coming out, I remember thinking, Oh my God, I cannot wait to see this show because there's someone else out there. I mean, I feel for those girls. I've been that girl. It does show that motherhood is hard. There were so many times—especially when Maddie would get sick—when I would cry to myself and think, I really don't know what to do. It takes bravery to be a young mom, and it does take bravery to let the world watch."
Sisterly bonding:
"[As for Britney], she's in such a good place right now. She's in love. She has her kids. So I'm happy for her. Of course, [our bond as mothers], it's such a big thing, you know? Especially ’cause there's an age gap there—she's 10 years older. I think if I were just a normal 20-year-old, I wouldn't be able to relate as much to her."
Jamie Lynn has DEFINITELY grown up! What a mature and honest young adult. We're proud of who she's become.
Maddie is lucky to have one amazing mother.
[Image via Glamour.]
Tags: britney spears, casey aldridge, glamour, grown up, jamie lynn spears, maddie aldridge, mature, motherhood, parenthood, teen mom
__iphone_290.jpg)
