Kailyn Lowry is candidly sharing the realities of her co-parenting journeys. The Teen Mom 2 alum, who shares Elliott, 16, with ex-boyfriend Jo Rivera; Lincoln, 12, with Javi Marroquin; Lux, 8, and Creed, 5, with Chris Lopez; as well as Rio, 3, and 2-year-old twins Valley and Verse with ex Elijah Scott, has extensive experience navigating different co-parenting dynamics. And among the biggest lessons she’s learned is that a little patience goes a long way.
“Co-parenting is a marathon,” Kailyn shared in an exclusive interview with E! News. “Unfortunately, it’s not something that you can just race to. There’s always going to be bumps in the road,” she continued, underscoring the ongoing effort and flexibility required to make it work.
“I’m also co-parenting with Lincoln’s dad. He moved out of the state, so that’s new for us, but we’re doing the best that we can to kind of stay on the same page for Lincoln.”
When it comes to outsiders’ perspectives on her relationships with her children’s fathers and any long-held assumptions, she’s more than ready to set the record straight.
“I think that I’ve been villainized for a really long time, partially because that was sort of the storyline on Teen Mom,” she explained. “But I don’t fight with my kids’ dads nearly as much as people think. And my life does not revolve around my kids’ dads.”
Indeed, Kailyn is keeping very busy. In addition to life as a mom of seven, she is also hitting the road in June for her “Fatherless Behavior” Tour, a 21-date live podcast experience that promises conversations about relationships, “daddy issues,” motherhood, and navigating life in real time.
While Kailyn is no stranger to telling all on her three podcasts—she hosts Coffee Convos, Karma & Chaos, and Barely Famous—being in the spotlight comes with its own challenges. Chief among them has been facing reactions to her personal life, like debuting her relationship with boyfriend Isaac “Ike” Knighton two months after her breakup with Elijah. As she admitted, “I have a hard time with the criticism, to be honest, especially when it comes to my relationships.”
And as social media often distorts reality, some aspects of her life, like her relationships, aren’t necessarily what they seem. “I think that in the grand scheme of things, I haven’t really dated a whole lot of people,” she said. “But because people feel so close to me, they feel like they know me. There’s no real measure of time on social media. You might post something that’s old, or information might come out sooner than you thought or after you think.”
As a result, Kailyn believes that perception can quickly become skewed. “People think that I’ve been with a lot of people in a short amount of time,” she said, emphasizing that in context that assumption doesn’t hold up. “If you think about it, I’ve been on TV or in the public eye for about 17 years. I actually haven’t been with that many people.”
