Britney Spears has faced many emotional upheavals in her life, and her parents haven't always been there to support her through them.
Many children grow up in a tensed households where they have to watch their parents fight with each other. While the parents might assume that staying together is the best that they can do for their child, they fail to see how much an unhappy marriage and frustrated couple can affect a young child. Children who grow up witnessing frequent fights, verbal abuse, or fear of retaliation carry these traumatic experiences into adulthood. This affects their core beliefs on relationships, their self-esteem, mental and physical health. They don't realize that a happy, relaxed mom and dad, although separated, might sometimes work better for the kids rather than staying together in an unhappy marriage.
For Popstar Britney Spears, that day of relief came in May 2002. Her parents, Lynne and Jamie Spears, had decided to split after being together for 30 years. Unlike many other kids, their daughter lauded the decision. "It’s the best thing that’s ever happened to my family," said Britney. "My mom and dad, bottom line, do not get along. When I was a baby, they argued. I wanted this to happen 10 years ago," she told PEOPLE.
In March of 2002, Britney and her then-NSync member Justin Timberlake broke up. The Toxic singer took a break that year to "rejuvenate spiritually and to just play." The rumors of a meltdown started around the same time, but her mom Lynne denied it saying, "My daughter is doing beautifully. She’s never, ever been close to a breakdown."
Born to a school teacher mum and a building contractor father in Kentwood, Louisiana, she gained fame pretty early in life. Her dad was alcoholic and her parents had many tiffs, something that impacted young Britney through her childhood. She was only 16 when her Baby One More Time became a sensation in 1998. By 2004, she was married and divorced and had married again. Her first marriage to Jason Allen Alexander lasted only 55 hours, while her second marriage to Kevin Federline last three years.
By 2007, the star was shining dimmer than ever before, and she was falling from the echelons of fame she had earned very early in life. She even went on to have some very public meltdowns, something that haunts her till now. Having witnessed a difficult relationship between her parents, when her own marriage to Kevin Federline fell apart, she had a nervous breakdown. Eventually, she also ended up losing custody of her kids, Sean and Jayden. However, her parents wanted to be by her side but were apparently forced out from her inner circle, says Mirror UK. Unlike earlier, her mom couldn't be there to protect her beautiful girl.
"I wanted to be in denial, but I couldn't deny the video footage unfolding in front of me," Lynne recalled about being forced to watch Britney spiral from the sidelines in the 2008 book Through the Storm: A Real Story of Fame and Family in a Tabloid World. "It was Britney, and she was shaving off her beautiful hair. All I could think of was, 'How could this be? She used to be the happiest girl in the world?'"
She was unable to get in touch with her daughter during the difficult time when Britney needed help. "When her life was such a success, what did she need me for? And when things took a turn for the worse, I was out, because other people—dancers, managers—were closer to her, and with her day and night. Being a mother, you can't help but have regrets about what you did and didn't do for your kids, and I'm no different."
Eventually, her family intervened by pushing their way into her life in order to protect her from all the chaos. Her father, Jamie, was appointed as the conservator of her assets and remains so until now. While Britney's relationship with her father blossomed, her bond with her mother got more complicated. Lynne was blamed for Britney losing the custody of her children.
A lot has changed in the last 10 years of her life, but her father and a court-appointed lawyer continue to be conservators. They also helped her get 50-50 custody of her children. Her parents reconciled after almost a decade of being divorced, while she's gone on to release multiple albums and get hold of a Las Vegas residency. However, in 2019, the Womanizer singer fell off the wagon, and her mother stepped in help her daughter put herself back together. The popstar also took a break from her tour to spend time with her family after her father almost died after a colon rupture.
"I am dedicating my focus and energy to care for my family," Spears also said in a statement, according to E!News. "We have a very special relationship and I want to be with my family at this time just like they have always been there for me."
Unfortunately, her unsupervised time with her children has been reduced to 30% now. The reduced custody agreement came into force after a physical altercation between Jamie and Sean, reports Us Weekly. "The relationship between Jamie and Britney has completely fallen apart," a source told US Weekly in December 2019. "Britney remains very angry at Jamie because his actions with her kids resulted in losing custody time with the kids."
References:
https://people.com/archive/cover-story-britneys-next-act-vol-58-no-10/
https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/inside-britney-spears-fractured-family-21644345
Source: (L) Britney Spears Instagram; (R) Getty Images | Photo by Alberto E. Rodriguez
