Jamie Lynn Spears - who revealed she was expecting her first child with 19-year-old boyfriend Casey Aldridge earlier this week, has received some much needed support from an unlikely source - former teen star Lisa Whelchel. Whelchel - best known for her role in the 80s television series The Facts of Life, has come to Spears' defense after the 16-year-old 'Zoey 101 star earned mostly derision following her announcement that she is pregnant.
"I'm very passionate about wanting to speak out on behalf of this young girl," Whelchel, now 44, tells ABC News. "She is a role model, but it's not her responsibility to be a role model. That's so much pressure on a 16-year-old."
44-year-old Lisa, who has three teenage children: Clancy, Haven, and Tucker, says Spears should be commended for her decision to keep her baby.
"I'm so proud of her for stepping up and being courageous and taking responsibility for her choices, and I believe she's being a good role model – a good role model in that situation, to choose to have the baby, and I am supportive of her in that situation," she said.
Whelchel - who was Spears' age when she started on The Facts of Life in 1979, also had words of encouragement for Spears's mother, Lynne. "We are doing the best we can as moms," she said. "We really are. I know that she's doing the best she can as a mom as well."
She added that she spoke to her two daughters, who are 16 and 15, separately about Spears's pregnancy. Whelchel said both girls had the same response: "This is a wake-up call, not for the kids, for the parents. This is happening everywhere, every day."
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