Jamie Lynn Spears is the mostly-forgotten younger sister of Britney Spears who, willingly, disappeared into obscurity amid a pregnancy scandal.
Back in 2007, Spears, 21, was a semi-famous 16-year-old making bad decisions and failing to use protection. She elaborates in an interview with Glamour March 2012, for which Amanda Seyfried covers, she was a young, dumb, immature kid who became pregnant because it was easier to get knocked-up than ask for the pill at the local pharmacy.
Her daughter with ex-boyfriend Casey Aldridge is Maddie Briann Aldridge, now 3.5-years-old.
On being handed a career at the height of her sister’s fame and losing it all: “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. 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.”
Elaborating on the immaturity that led to her getting knocked-up: “I believe in safety and birth control as prevention. But like many young girls, I was really scared to go to the doctor. 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. I did feel responsible for the young girls and the mothers who I probably confused and let down. I apologize for that. But I wasn’t trying to glamorize teen pregnancy.”
On the names called when she got pregnant: ”Everybody is dealt a hand of cards. It was my choice to play them the way I played them. But the hateful comments hurt.”
On why she left the spotlight and why she’s back: “I was a kid who did a kid show. Then I went away and raised my child, and the world has never met me as an adult. This is the first time anybody is really meeting me as a grown woman and grown mother making a decision about what to do with my life… These days, the only thing I’m afraid of is not being a good mom. As long as Maddie is healthy and she loves me, the rest doesn’t matter. That’s been the coolest thing, realizing that it’s okay to just be myself and really tell my story. I expect the scrutiny. The last time anyone heard anything of me, I was 16 and pregnant. All I can do is be my best; there will always be people who will never like me.”
On bringing her and her sister closer: “[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.” - via Glamour.
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