Jennifer Garner gets candid on raising kids with Ben Affleck, “I become mom and dad”

Hollywood actress Jennifer Garner has opened up about the realities of co-parenting her three children with her former husband, Ben Affleck.

Describing both the "loss" and the lessons that come with raising children across two households, Jennifer, 53, made the remarks during an appearance on Bustle's One Nightstand YouTube series, where she discussed bringing up Violet, 20, Fin, 17, and Samuel, 13, following her split from Ben Affleck, 53, to whom the actress was married from 2005 until 2018, reports 'Female First UK'.

Speaking to host Charlotte Owen, Jennifer said when the children are with her, she has to "become mom and dad", and there is a "loss" that comes with co-parenting.





Addressing how she finds the balance in raising her children with a "conscientious upbringing" and "appreciation", Jennifer added, "And I think my kids' dad does too. Especially when your kids grow up in two separate households, I become mom and dad and he becomes dad and mom".

She further mentioned, "You kind of can't help it, right? Because you don't have the benefit of both sides of the yin and yang being in the same house. There's a little bit of loss in that, but there's also something gained in that. You also just learn. It's made me let go and not focus so much on bringing up".

As per 'Female First UK', last month, Jennifer described the breakdown of her marriage as "hard".

She told Marie Claire UK, "You have to be smart about what you can and can't handle, and I could not handle what was out there. The fact of it is what was hard. The actual breaking up of a family is what was hard. Losing a true partnership and friendship is what was hard".

Jennifer added putting her children first never felt like a sacrifice, despite her career in Hollywood.

She said, "It never felt like a sacrifice. It was really hard to go to work and it definitely shaped the jobs I chose, in a big way".

And speaking about navigating public scrutiny, Jennifer went on, "Not hard in the grand scheme of what is hard in the world, but tricky for me and tricky for my family".

She also addressed the period when Ben reunited with Jennifer Lopez, 56, in 2021.Get the latest entertainment updates from the Times of India, along with the latest Hindi movies, upcoming Hindi movies in 2026 , and Telugu movies.”