10 celebrities who became dads at a young age

"Queer Eye" star Karamo Brown learned he had fathered a child in 2004 after appearing on MTV's "The Real World." Brown was the first Black, openly-gay cast member on the show.

"I came out at 16 years old as a proud, gay man. My last girlfriend in high school—when I was 15—became pregnant with my child but did not tell me," Brown told Parents.com. "She moved away, and I never had contact with her again; remember this is before social media."

Brown said that when he received a subpoena for child support in the mail, he learned he had fathered a child.

"I was confused, sad, angry, and weirdly excited to be a dad, but felt lost nonetheless," Brown said. "We were both kids and don't blame her for the decision she made because the choice was not hers, it was the adults around us."

Brown then took full custody of his son Jason, now 24, and shortly afterward adopted Jason's younger half-brother, Christian, now 20.

Reginae Carter, who is Lil Wayne's oldest child and only daughter, went on to become a film and television personality. She boasts over 6 million followers on Instagram.

Lil Wayne, born Dwayne Michael Carter Jr., and Johnson were married from 2004 until 2006. The relationship marked Carter's only marriage, though he went on to father three more children with three different women.

The famous singer reconnected with his daughter years later following the death of Streeter's adoptive parents.

"I feel guilty about everything. I carry lots of guilt," Stewart said in 2011 of giving Sarah up for adoption.

"It's evolved a lot in the last few years," Streeter told the Daily Mail in 2018. "It's taken its time because he's not just my dad, is he? He's a big star. So, of course, that makes it difficult, especially when, like me, you lack confidence."

"But, over the years, it has become much more relaxed and now he's just 'Dad' to me. You can't get away from the fact that he's Rod Stewart the star, but when we're together I put that at the back of my mind," she continued. "I'm not engaging with that person but with Rod the man — my dad. I feel like I am a genuine part of his extended family, which is wonderful."

Stewart, 77, has also fathered seven other children over the years.

Though Kelly, now 31, is now mostly known for his bold red carpet style alongside fiancé Megan Fox, he has also brought his daughter Casie Colson Baker along on several red carpet appearances.

Not much is known about Casie's mother, who remains out of the spotlight since the couple split years ago, but the musician did wish her a happy Mother's Day in 2013, calling her "the best mother I've seen first hand."

Odom shares all three of his children with his ex-girlfriend Liza Morales, whom he dated prior to marrying Khloe Kardashian in 2009. Odom and Kardashian only dated a month before tying the knot in an opulent wedding ceremony televised on "Keeping Up With the Kardashians."

"Things changed when my dad married Khloe," Destiny Odom told People in 2017. "Things were a lot more public. When your dad's an NBA player that's already enough, but when he's marrying a reality tv star, things are so public that you don't have a private life anymore."

In addition to Destiny, now 24, and Lamar Odom Jr, 20, Odom's youngest child Jayden passed away at just 6 months old from sudden infant death syndrome.

"[That's] just something I don't think I'd ever get over," the basketball star on an episode of "Celebrity Big Brother" in 2022. "But him coming to me in a dream lets me know that he's not too far away. And I know I'll see him in an afterlife."

Cassandra Jade Estevez, now 37, is Sheen's oldest child. Estevez has remained mostly out of the spotlight, although she was photographed walking down the aisle with her famous dad on her wedding day. She also has a daughter, Luna, who is Sheen's first and only grandchild.

"I love my dad is really all I can say right now," Esteves, who has chosen to stay out of the public eye despite her famous father and his various controversies, told E! News in 2011. "This is not my time to come forward. Someday I will, but not now."

Sheen has four other children: Sami, 18, and Lola, 17, who he shares with ex-wife Denise Richards, and twins Max and Bob, 13, who he shares with his ex-wife and former "Two and a Half Men" costar Brooke Mueller.

The pair welcomed another son, Bryce, in 2007. Despite the stress of having a child at a young age, James and Brinson stayed together and tied the knot in 2013, after which they welcomed their first daughter, Zhuri, in 2014.

James has been open about his own upbringing. Born to an absent father and 16-year-old mother, the basketball legend explained how his relationship with his parents inspired him to be a better father to his own kids, including his oldest child Bronny.

"As I got older and as I became more of an adult, I started to realize and think to myself well 'Damn, what was he going through?'…Was it things that he couldn't control?… He's the reason I am the father I am today," James told Fatherly in 2018. "Because I always wanted to set an example and have the father figure in their lives so they never had that resentment."

Despite being one-half of one of the biggest power couples of the 1990s, Beckham said that fatherhood was always something he wanted early in life.

"Obviously, Victoria and I had Brooklyn at a very young age," Beckham told The Father Hood. "But I always wanted that, because I wanted my kids to live through my career with me – through the highs and obviously a couple of lows along the way. I always wanted that."

"And I think you mature quicker with kids," he continued. "You have more important things in life to worry about than your everyday worries, and life becomes all about the kids. I think that's what you learn as a father, you become less important and it's all about your children."

In addition to Brooklyn, now 23, David and Victoria Beckham went on to have three more children: Romeo James Beckham, 19; Cruz Beckham, 17; and Harper Seven Beckham, 10.

"I think that was my first moment of the real weight of parenting," Smith said on his wife Jada Pinkett Smith's Red Table Talk show in 2020. "I brought him home, and I remember we put him in the bassinet… and it was like stark terror. I'm totally responsible for this life. I just cried so hard. It makes me teary right now."

"[I felt like,] I can't do it," he said with tears in his eyes. "I'm not the guy. I just knew I didn't know anything. In that moment, [I was thinking] how much better than me my father was. It was on me now."

Smith and Zampino were married from 1992 and 1995. Smith later married Jada Pinkett Smith in 1997. The couple share Jaden Smith, 23, and Willow Smith, 21.

Smith's first child, Trey Smith, is now 29 and still involved in his father's life. He even celebrated his father's historic Oscar win in 2022, though he maintains a relatively low profile compared to his famous siblings.

Tomlinson shares his six-year-old son Freddie Reign Tomlinson with his ex-girlfriend, Calabasas-based stylist Briana Jungwirth.

Although Tomlinson keeps his relationship with his son mainly out of the spotlight, the now 30-year-old former One Direction member says he makes every effort to see him as much as possible.

"I try and spend as much time in England as I do LA and vice versa… to be there to see and go out with Freddie and all of that," Tomlinson told Metro in October 2019. "Then I have my family in the UK, who I make sure I see plenty of. It's a bit of a juggle at times but it's all part of life."