Her whole world! Britney Spears may be a global superstar, but when it comes to her boys — she’s just Mom.
The “Toxic” songstress shares two sons with ex-husband Kevin Federline: Sean Preston, born in September 2005, and son Jayden, born in September 2006. Spears and the former backup dancer divorced in 2007, three years after their wedding made headlines.
Following her split from Federline, the “Baby One More Time” songstress endured a series of public struggles. In 2008, she was put under a conservatorship by her father, Jamie Spears. The Louisiana native was tasked with handling his daughter’s estate and caring for her emotional well-being — duties that quickly went to the extreme.
At the time, Federline did not help Britney amid her highly-publicized conservatorship — the Missouri native claimed she did not have access to her finances and was forced to remain on birth control despite her wishes to have more children — and admitted years later he chose to stay out of it so he could protect their children. (The California native is also father of Kori and Kaleb, born in 2002 and 2004 respectively, with ex Shar Jackson and Jordan and Peyton, who were born in 2011 and 2014, respectively with wife Victoria Prince.)
“The boys, the boys, the boys. I had to worry about them,” Federline told 60 Minutes Australia in September 2022 as to why he chose to remain silent about his ex-wife’s controversial conservatorship. “I couldn’t get involved.”
When Britney and Federline split, the two had a 50-50 custody agreement. In June 2017, the rapper opened up about coparenting with the “Break the Ice” musician.
“It wasn’t always easy, but it’s a lot easier now,” he told Bravo at the time. “When you are coparenting, you have to be willing to give up some of the things you would really like to do.”
However, in August 2019, the Grammy winner and the DJ changed their arrangement so that her former husband would keep the boys 70 percent of the time, while the “Gimme More” artist had 30 percent “unsupervised custodial rights,” a source told Us Weekly at the time. Despite having less time with her children, Britney appeared to stay positive and continued to spend quality time with her kids, including a trip to Disneyland later that month.
“Great time at Disneyland today … but I don’t remember ever getting that wet on splash mountain 🏔!!!” she captioned a slideshow from her family’s fun day in August 2019. “ Geeez … anyhow my boys are older now, so they don’t like their picture taken ever… so I was thrilled today when they said SURE !!!!! Such a great place !!!!!”
In August 2020, the “Hold Me Closer” singer began the process to remove her father’s conservatorship, which was ultimately terminated a little more than one year later.
“Good God I love my fans so much it’s crazy 🥺❤️ !!!,” she captioned Instagram footage of fans cheering outside the courthouse after the November 2021 ruling was made. “I think I’m gonna cry the rest of the day !!!! Best day ever … praise the Lord … can I get an Amen 🙏🏼☀️🙌🏼 ???? #FreedBritney.”
After receiving her freedom, Britney spoke out against her father, mother Lynne Spears and sister Jamie Lynn Spears for their roles in her conservatorship.
“I’m not even mentioning all the bad things they did to me which they should all be in jail for … yes including my church going mother !!!!” she wrote via Instagram in November 2021. “I’m used to keeping peace for the family and keeping my mouth shut … but not this time … I have NOT FORGOTTEN and I hope they can look up tonight and know EXACTLY WHAT I MEAN !!!!”
In addition to conflicts with her parents and sister, Britney’s conservatorship hurt her relationship with Preston and Jayden. When the “Lucky” singer tied the knot with Sam Asghari in June 2022, neither of her teenage boys attended.
Jayden spoke out about his estranged relationship with his mother in a September 2022 interview with the Daily Mail.
“I think Mom has struggled giving us both attention and showing us equal love and I don’t think she showed enough to Preston and I feel really bad for that,” the teen confessed at the time. “We’ve both been through so much pressure in the past that this is our safe place now, to process all the emotional trauma we’ve been through to heal, heal our mental state.”
The Grammy winner, who suffered a pregnancy loss one month before her wedding to Asghari, responded to her son’s claims via Instagram.
“I’ve tried my best at being the best person I can be … to be basically held hostage in homes under nurses and bulls—t,” Britney alleged shortly after Jayden made his comments. “I hope my kids one day understand my reasoning of my play in water revealing myself as any woman would being held under blankets and supervision under the conservatorship!!!”
Despite the family’s strained relationship, the “Till the World Ends” singer still shared her love for her boys and let them know she missed them dearly.
“To both of my boys … I love you … I would die for you !!!” she wrote via Instagram in December 2022. “God speed my precious hearts !!! I would give anything just to touch your face !!! I send my love … Mamasita🌹🌹🌹.”
Keep scrolling to see some of Britney’s sweetest moments with her two boys:
