Co-parenting tips from celebrities who get it right

Their romances might have ended but these celebrities are not letting that get in the way of co-parenting their children.

We take a look at how they put their differences aside to raise their kids in a healthy environment. 

DJ Zinhle and AKA – It’s not always easy but it’s possible
Children: Kairo Forbes

Zinhle and AKA’s co-parenting relationship was not always easy. Who can forget AKA’s 2016 Twitter rant in which he slammed Zinhle for being too close to his mother and accused her of being petty towards his then-girlfriend, Bonang Matheba?

But that is all water under the bridge. Not only do they have a healthier relationship, but AKA told Zinhle that he wants to be in her daughter Asante’s life. Zinhle shares Asante with Black Motion’s Bongani ‘Murdah Bongz/ Mörda’ Mahosana.

“Well obviously Bongani has a relationship with Kairo. So you guys can’t ask me not to have a relationship with this one,” AKA said, according to Zinhle.

ALSO READ: DJ Zinhle's response to haters after she posted about AKA on Father's Day

Their co-parenting relationship is going so well that even AKA’s mother, Lynn Forbes, celebrated their blended family in 2022. She shared pictures of AKA and his current girlfriend, Nadia Nakai, alongside pictures of Zinhle and Bongani. Lynn also included an image of her granddaughter Kairo holding her baby sister, Asante.

“Raising a blended family, through many challenges, to live together in harmony and raise well balanced, happy children, is not always easy but it’s possible when everyone works together, in the best interest of the youngest children in the family,” she wrote.

ALSO READ: Permanently in love: AKA and Nadia Nakai get matching tattoos!

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck – Handle the transition with care
Children: Max, Emme, Seraphina, Samuel, Violet.

Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck tied the knot in 2022, nearly 20 years after calling off their first engagement. By the time they reunited in 2021, Jennifer had two children, Max and Emme, with ex-husband Marc Anthony, while Ben was a father to Seraphina, Violet, and Samuel – whom he shares with ex-wife, Jennifer Garner.  JLO described Ben’s ex-wife as an “amazing co-parent” in an interview with Vogue magazine.

Ben and Jennifer moved their kids in together when they got married. And the singer says they had to handle the process with care.

"The transition is a process that needs to be handled with so much care. They have so many feelings. They're teens. But it's going really well so far," she said.

The ‘Jenny From The Block’ hitmaker also revealed how she hopes the two families will blend their new life together.

"What I hope to cultivate with our family is that his kids have a new ally in me and my kids have a new ally in him, someone who really loves and cares about them but can have a different perspective and help me see things that I can't see with my kids because I'm so emotionally tied up."

ALSO READ: Jennifer Lopez talks blended family with Ben Affleck: 'It's an emotional transition'

Mona Monyane and Khulu Skenjana – Choose love and light
Children: Amani-Amaza and Ase-Ahadi

Actress Mona Monyane has been through hell and back over the past few years. She lost her daughter, Amani-Amaza, a few days after she was born in 2017. Tragedy struck again in 2019 when the house she shared with her husband, Khulu Skenjana, was gutted by a fire. She lost her daughter’s ashes in the blaze. The couple, who also have a daughter named Ase-Ahadi, separated in 2020.

Despite the breakdown of their romantic relationship, Mona and Khulu continued to maintain a healthy co-parenting relationship.

She shared a few tips on what she has learned from their co-parenting experience on Instagram.

1. Be the peacemaker, not the aggressor. (This doesn't guarantee that your co-parent will do the same, do it anyway).
2. Remember that your child has an independent relationship with both of you, don't make them choose between the two of you. (A relationship can fail but a parent is forever).
3. Choose what's best for the child. (If your child loves you both, do your best to both be in their lives)
4. Be graceful in the face of adversity. (Clutch a pearl Sis, get a lawyer if you must fight but don't be the one being all ghetto in the streets!).
5. Choose to walk away from conflict rather than make things worse. (No good comes from attacking the parent of your child because of your own issues with them).
6. Heal your own pain so you don't function from EGO. (Heal so you can also work from a place of objectivity and maturity when dealing with the other parent).
7. Don't make your drama with your co-parent your child's problem. (Our children are not here to inherit our pain and negativity, get your act together for their sake!).
8. And MOST of all, because WOW... PRAY!!!! (Because God can do ALL things).

ALSO READ: Actress Mona Monyane finds love after grief - 'The darkness was real'

Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani  - Put your kids first
Children: Wyatt and Sebastian

TV reporter Anderson Cooper and Benjamin Maisani have two children, Wyatt Morgan and Sebastian Luke. Both children were born via surrogate.

Sebastian was born in early 2022, after the pair had split up. He has both Anderson and Benjamin’s last names. Benjamin was also in the process of legally adopting Wyatt. The pair are so committed to their co-parenting relationship that they continued to live together after their split.

"We actually still live in the same house because we get along really well and, yeah, it's weird but it works out. It's interesting, he wasn't really sure he wanted to have a kid — which is one of the reasons we probably broke up — but then he came around to the idea, and now he is such a great parent,” Anderson told Ellen DeGeneres in February 2021.

ALSO READ: Madonna: 'Once again I am caught in the glare of ageism and misogyny'

Main image credit:  Instagram/@lynnforbeza