There’s something utterly fascinating about celebrities. Their fashion, wealth, and lavish lifestyle are fascinating to us, because it’s so different from what we know. And yet, we’re often equally fascinated by the “normal” aspect of their lives - like what they eat for dinner, or watch on TV - because these mundane details make them relatable. This is especially true when our favourite celebs also have kids.
We’re naturally curious about how celeb moms parent, what their kids wear, and whether their little ones have meltdowns in the supermarket just like our own (which, of course, they do!).
Some celebs are parenting teenagers and babies at the same time, having had their children years apart. Others are juggling a couple babies or toddlers (or both) on their hips, having had their little ones back-to-back. Either way, they've immersed themselves in the madness of parenthood just like the rest of us: Dealing with demanding careers and relationships (and ex-relationships), while re-filling sippy cups, making lunches, and slogging through school drop-offs and pick-ups.
Keep reading to find out which celeb moms balance it all while raising kids with the biggest age gaps, and the smallest age gaps. Hats off to them, and to moms everywhere. You’re amazing!
BIGGEST AGE GAPS
20 Kelly Preston - 10 Years
For all intents and purposes, Kelly Preston, John Travolta, and their kids Ella Bleu, 18, and son Benjamin, 8, seem to be a typical, happy Hollywood family. But the family has a sad history, and one that explains the 10-year age gap between Ella and Benjamin.
Kelly Preston and John Travolta's eldest son, Jett, passed away of a seizure in 2009, at the young age of 16. One year later, Kelly – then 47 years old – announced she was pregnant with her third baby. According to the Daily Mail, sources close to the couple said they were making a “concerted effort” to have another baby to help them deal, in part, with their grief over losing Jett.
19 Celine Dion - 10 Years
Canadian songstress Celine Dion has never been mum about her struggle with infertility. In 2000, after years of trying unsuccessfully to conceive a baby, Celine underwent fertility treatment and welcomed son, René-Charles, in 2001.
When she and late husband René Angélil began trying for another child, they found the process just as difficult. Eventually, after six rounds of IVF, she became pregnant with triplets, one of whom – sadly – didn’t make it to birth. In 2010, she delivered twins, Eddy and Nelson, who are now 7.
“I told René that I couldn’t stop,” she said in a 2013 interview with The Daily Mail, of her determination to persevere through IVF. “I had to try and try and try all the way.”
18 Liv Tyler - 12 Years
Liv Tyler has three beautiful children from two different marriages, which explains the 12-year gap between her eldest, Milo – now 14, and her youngest, Lula – who just turned two.
Tyler married British musician Royston Langdon in 2003, and welcomed little Milo a year later. When Milo was four, the couple split up. Six years later, Liv found love again, when she met David Gardner, a British sports and entertainment manager. In 2015, Liv gave birth to the couple’s son, Sailor, and welcomed daughter Lula the following year. She’s also step-mom to Grey, David Gardner’s son from a previous marriage.
17 Victoria Beckham - 12 Years
The Beckhams are famous for so many reasons: Their style, their wealth, their endless love for each other (never break up!), and their large and gorgeous brood of children.
The stunning couple welcomed their first child, Brooklyn – now 19 – in 1999. Romeo was born three years later, followed by Cruz three years after that. And then in 2011, the Victoria announced she was pregnant with her fourth.
While some speculated that the famous couple was trying for a girl, that rumour was never confirmed. Either way, the former Spice Girl welcomed her fourth and final child – daughter Harper, now seven – in 2011. As for whether she will have more kids? Victoria says she’s done, according to the Daily Mail.
16 Kate Winslet - 13 Years
Does anyone else seem shocked that Kate Winslet has an 18-year-old daughter? No? Just me?
Well, she does. Mia Honey Threapleton was born Oct. 12, 2000, the daughter of Kate Winslet and director Jim Threapleton. The couple divorced a year later, and Kate met and fell in love with another director, Sam Mendes, and the couple welcomed son Joe Alfie Winslet Mendes into the world in 2003. In 2010, the couple split.
In 2012, Kate married Ned Rocknroll, nephew of Virgin zillionaire Richard Branson, and their son, Bear, was born the following year, when big sister Mia was 13.
15 Uma Thurman - 14 Years
Actress Uma Thurman already had two children – daughter Maya, 9, and son Levon, 5 – from her previous marriage to Ethan Hawke, when she met French financier Arpad Busson in 2007.
The couple became engaged, then called it quits, then reconciled, then called it off (you get the picture) several times by the time their daughter, Luna was born in 2012. By then, Maya was 14, and Levon was 10.
In 2012, Uma Thurman and Arpad Busson officially called it quits, and in 2018 told Us Weekly, regarding possibly having more children: “The shop is closed. I got lucky, I have three healthy, beautiful children. Touch wood.”
14 Reese Witherspoon - 14 Years
I know I just said this about Kate Winslet, but I’m saying it again: Can you believe Reese Witherspoon has a 19-year-old?
Her look-alike daughter, Ava Phillippe (who’s somehow also the spitting image of her father, Ryan Phillippe), is 19, and son Deacon Phillippe is 15. Now, granted, Reese started young. She was only 23 when Ava was born.
The Walk the Line actress separated from Ryan Phillippe in 2006, and began dating talent agent Jim Toth four years later. Their son, Tennessee – now six years old – was born in 2012, when Ava was 14.
13 Jennifer Connelly - 15 Years
I can’t imagine having a 15-year-old and a newborn, but I also can’t imagine having a 15-year-old, so there’s that.
That was Jennifer Connelly’s life, when she and husband Paul Bettany welcomed her third child, daughter Agnes, into the world in 2011. Big brother Stellan was eight, and even bigger brother Kai – from her previous marriage to photographer David Dugan – was fifteen.
As for whether more children are in her future, she told Allure Magazine in a 2014 interview: “I knew that we were going to be done after number three. That’s enough for us.”
12 Nicole Kidman - 18 Years
Nicole Kidman is the proud mama of four children: Two with ex-husband Tom Cruise, and two with current spouse Keith Urban.
She became a mother more than two decades ago, when she and Tom Cruise adopted their daughter, Isabella, and then their son, Connor, and who are now 26 and 23 respectively. Kidman opened up about turning to adoption after going through several miscarriages in a recent interview with Tatler.
“There’s an enormous amount of pain and an enormous amount of joy on the other side of it,” she said of adoption after infertility.
Isabella was 16 when Nicole Kidman and husband Keith Urban welcomed daughter Sunday Rose into the world in 2008, and she was 18 when her littlest sister, Faith Margaret, was born in 2010.
11 Kris Jenner - 18 Years
It’s hard to think of Kris Jenner without also thinking of her large family. The TV personality and Kardashian matriarch has six children: Kourtney, Khloe, Kim, and Rob (all Kardashians), as well as Kylie, and Kendall (both Jenners). Why did Rob get an “R” name? Likely in memory of his late father.
Eldest daughter Kourtney, who was born in 1979, was 18 years old when youngest sibling Kylie Jenner was born in 1997. Kylie, who’s only 21, is already a mom herself, having given birth to a little girl named Stormi Webster earlier in 2018.
As for rumours that Kris Jenner is thinking of adopting a little boy: Apparently, they’re false, according to Gossipcop.com. She’s got her hands full being a grandma.
SMALLEST AGE GAP
10 Liv Tyler - 17 Months
Surprise! Liv Tyler’s back. She gets the distinction of being as being one of the celeb mamas with the biggest age gaps between kids, as well as one of the shortest age gaps.
Liv Tyler’s little son Sailor Gene was only 17 months old – not even a year and a half – when she gave birth to Sailor’s little sister Lula Rose in July 2016.
She and her husband David Gardner are raising their blended family (four kids in total) in London.
9 Megan Fox - 16 Months
Model and actress Megan Fox has three beautiful sons with husband and former 90210 star Brian Austin Green. Eldest, Noah, was born in 2012, and only 17 months later, little brother Bodhi came along. The little boys welcomed a third brother, Journey, in 2016.
Megan Fox has received flak in the past for raising her children gender-neutral. The boys are often photographed with long hair or wearing pink clothes. Megan Fox is quick to silence her critics, and for this we love her. In an interview for educationandcareernews.com she explained,
“If a boy loves princesses and a girl loves baseball, that's not indicative of their [romantic preferences]. We can't limit children by telling them how they should play.”
8 Naomi Watts - 16.5 Months
Naomi Watts has two children with ex-husband and fellow actor Liev Schreiber. Alexander, who goes by “Sasha”, was born in July 2007, and the couple wasted no time giving their son a little brother. Samuel, who goes by “Sammy”, came along the following year, in December 2008.
Watts, who always looks cool and polished when photographed with her kids, admitted to News.com.au in 2015 that having children later in life has made her a “neurotic mother.”
“The later you leave it [motherhood], the more books you read and, probably, the more neurotic you become,” she admitted. We get it.
7 Denise Richards - 15 Months
Model and actress Denise Richards has two gorgeous little girls with ex-husband Charlie Sheen. Sam Sheen was born in 2004, and little sister Lola came along only 15 months later.
The girls, who are now pre-teens, also have a little sister. In 2011, Denise Richards – who was a single mama at the time – adopted a baby girl, whom she named Eloise Joni, after her mother Joni Richards, who died of cancer several years earlier.
“I always wanted to adopt,” she said in a 2013 interview with OWN. So when she separated from Charlie Sheen, she decided to grow her family on her own.
6 Lily Allen - 14 Months
Lily Allen’s journey to parenthood hasn’t been easy. In 2009, the British pop star – who was six months pregnant at the time – contracted a viral infection, and sadly, lost her son, George. Lily Allen later admitted that the loss of her son left her with PTSD, according to Wikipedia. She talked at length about this experience (and many others) in her book, My Thoughts Exactly.
Fortunately, two years later, Lily gave birth to a little girl named Ethel. Her second daughter, Marnie, was born just over a year later.
Lily and the girls' father, Sam Cooper, have since split and Allen has used the opportunity to continue creating music. She released an album in June 2018 titled "No Shame". We sure hope she's doing well!
5 Kim Zolciak - 14 Months
Real Housewives of Atlanta star Kim Zolciak-Biermann is the proud mom of six kids and, if you can believe it, she’s only 40.
She was only 19 years old when she had her first child, daughter Brielle, followed by a second little girl, Ariana, four years later.
In 2011, Kim married Atlanta Falcons football player Kroy Biermann, and together they had four children within three years: KJ, born in 2011, Kash, born in 2012, and twins Kaia and Kane, born in 2013.
If you think you have trouble getting your kids out the door every day, imagine the Biermann household! We wish them luck!
4 Jessica Simpson - 13 Months
Jessica Simpson’s stunning look-alike children are just over a year apart. Daughter Maxwell was born in 2012, and son Ace the following year. And the blond beauties are about to get a little sister.
Jessica Simpson announced earlier in 2018 that she’s pregnant with a “surprise” third child with husband and football player Eric Johnson.
“(The kids are) so excited because they’re only fourteen months apart, so they didn’t get to experience the excitement of each other,” she said in an interview with Entertainment Tonight.
“But when I told them that we’re having another baby, I know that they’ll remember that for the rest of their lives.”
3 Kerri Walsh Jennings - 12 Months
American Olympic beach volleyball player Kerri Walsh Jennings has three children with fellow volleyball player Casey Jennings. Joseph Michael was born on May 22, 2009, and little brother Sundance Thomas came along one year later.
But, having kids only 12 months apart wasn’t enough of a challenge for this superstar couple, who welcomed daughter Scout in 2013. The little girl was named after the character Scout Finch from Harper Lee’s famous novel, To Kill a Mockingbird.
Who wants to place bets that one of the three Jennings kids is going to be a star athlete, too?
2 Britney Spears - 12 Months
It’s not usually a big deal when celebs – and married ones, no less – announce they are pregnant. But for some reason, it was a huge deal when pop star Britney Spears announced she was expecting a child with then-husband Kevin Federline.
The couple, whose fast and furious relationship was gobbled up by the tabloids, welcomed Sean Federline in September 2005. Their second son, Jayden, was born in 2006, two days before Sean’s first birthday. Two months later, Britney Spears filed for divorce from Kevin Federline.
If you can believe it, those boys are now pre-teens. Time flies.
1 Tori Spelling - 10 Months
Tori Spelling and Canadian actor Dean McDermott have five children together, and judging by how close in age their kids are, they were keen on having a big family... fast. There’s Liam, born in 2007; Stella, who was born 15 months later; Hattie, born in 2011; Finn, born 10 months after that; and finally Beau, born in 2017.
If you think about it, Hattie was only one month old when Tori became pregnant with Finn. I don’t know what you were doing one month after giving birth, but “having fun” with my husband was the furthest thing from my mind!
Sources: Wikipedia, Parents.com, The Daily Mail, Us Weekly, Allure Magazine, Education and Career News, Tatler, Gossipcop, News.com.au, DoYouRemember.com, OneCountry.com,