Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck were one of the most high-profile celebrity couples over the course of their relationship. The former husband and wife share three children: Violet, Seraphina, and Samuel. The pair announced that they were breaking up in 2015, and they started the process of divorcing in 2017, but didn’t finalize the split until the following year. Ben, 50, was Jennifer’s second husband, after her first marriage to Scott Foley. The 13 Going On 30 star, 50, was the actor’s first wife, as he later married Jennifer Lopez. The three kids were also all a part of Ben and J.Lo’s marriage ceremony in August 2022.
After the pair’s split, they seem to have a solid relationship as they co-parent their kids and have an extended, blended family. In the years since the divorce, they’ve been spotted attending family events together with their kids, and they seem to be cordial and on the same page as they raise their family. Find out everything you need to know about Ben and Jennifer’s kids here.
Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck’s Kids
Ben and Jennifer started their relationship in 2004, and they tied the knot the following year. When the couple got married in June 2005, Jennifer was already pregnant with their daughter Violet, 16, who arrived in December. The Alias actress gave birth to all three of her kids, and she doesn’t seem like she has plans for a fourth, after having Seraphina, 13, and Samuel, 10. She opened up about having a “baby bump” in a 2014 appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. “I have had three kids, and there is a bump. From now on, ladies, I will have a bump, and it will be my baby bump,” she joked.
Now that the girls are teenagers and their son is a pre-teen, both Ben and Jennifer have been spotted spending lots of time with their kids, whether they’re bonding on family vacations, having shopping days, or just taking them to and from different extracurricular activities. Very recently, the couple’s daughters joined Ben on his honeymoon with J.Lo in Paris, along with her twins.
When Ben and J.Lo held their second wedding ceremony, all three of their kids flew out to Georgia to be a part of the couple’s special day. They joined the “I’m Real” singer’s twins Max and Emme, both 14, as they walked down the aisle behind J.Lo. All five kids wore all white. After the ceremony and barbecue afterparty the following day, Ben was seen giving them a ride to a private airport where he said goodbye as they boarded their flight.
What have Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck Said About Their Family?
Even though the couple’s marriage came to an end, Jennifer has made it clear that being a mom is one of the most important things in the world to her. After the split, she opened up about how special her relationship with her kids is in a February 2016 interview with Vanity Fair. “The main thing is these kids—and we’re completely in line with what we hope for them,” she said, shortly after the breakup. “You should see their faces when he walks through the door. And if you see your kids love someone so purely and wholly, then you’re going to be friends with that person.”
As for her parenting style, Jennifer opened up about being a great role model for her kids in a 2016 interview with Today. “I try to be the best version of myself and to have faith that they’re watching me as carefully when I do something right as they do when I roll through a stop sign,” she said. She also gushed about being a parent in a “Momsplaining” segment on Ellen in October 2019. “Every phase of motherhood is its own beautiful, mysterious, magical, kind of heaven,” she explained.
While promoting her new movie Yes Day, Jennifer explained that she loved having “Yes Days,” with her little ones, especially when they were younger. “They were little enough then that I was able to really plant in her mind what would be fun, and I was able to put guard rails up really easily,” she told People in 2021. She explained that the day helped them have fun and play games and do different activities that they might not have done otherwise. It’s been clear that she likes to keep active alongside her kids, whether they’re going for bike rides together or going to different practices for activities like soccer or swimming.
Like his ex-wife, Ben clearly values his kids above all else. The Gone Girl actor described his life as “better,” when he’s with his children in a December 2021 interview with Good Morning America. “The only biography that needs anything is written on the hearts of your kids,” he said. He also admitted that he worries about how the public perception of him will weigh on his children, as he admitted in an interview with The Los Angeles Times, where he spoke about the “Sad Affleck” meme. “As my kids got older and started seeing the internet themselves, that’s the difficult part. Even the ‘Sad Affleck’ meme — that was funny to me. But then my kids see it and I think, ‘Oh, are they going to think their dad is fundamentally sad or they have to worry about me?’ That’s really tough,” he told the outlet.
While their marriage may not have panned out the way they’d planned, Ben and Jennifer clearly are on the same page as parents. Speaking about viral headlines that came out of the aforementioned L.A. Times interview, Ben mentioned that he felt like he’d spoken about how great they do as co-parents. “[We talked about] how I work with my ex-wife and how I’m so proud that we work together for our kids the best that we can for them,” he said during a Jimmy Kimmel Live! interview. He’s also raved about Jennifer as mother after the divorce, like when he wished her a happy Mother’s Day in 2021. “Luckiest parents in the world. Thanks for all the good you do,” he wrote in a since-deleted social media post.
Both Ben and Jennifer are very private and protective of their kids, and they generally try to keep them out of the spotlight and shield them from the paparazzi. She’s lobbied for laws to protect famous kids from being followed by the paparazzi. While speaking to former People editor-in-chief on his SiriusXM show, she thanked him for removing their kids from the magazine. “You making that change, I can’t tell you what it did for my relationship with your magazine, with the media in general,” she said. “If you can have a celebrity-filled magazine and not exploit people’s children, there’s no excuse for anyone. She opened up about her kids being scared of the paparazzi during a 2021 profile with The Hollywood Reporter. She revealed that she’d “have to ask them when they’re older,” about sharing public photos.
Since Ben has rekindled his romance with Jennifer Lopez, he and his ex-wife’s kids have been traveling a bit with their dad and J.Lo through their second time dating and now getting married. After the pair gave their relationship a second chance, it was clear that they were in love again, and they started to blend their families together. They’ve both been seen spending time with each other’s kids, including when Ben’s daughters accompanied them on their honeymoon to Paris, along with J.Lo’s twins. The “Jenny From The Block” singer was also seen bonding with Violet in New York. Sources close to the singer have also revealed to HollywoodLife that she has a “special bond” with her new hubby’s youngest child Samuel.
As the families blend, it seems like both the Jennifers get along very well and care for each other’s children. J.Lo even joined the reunited exes as they took their kids trick-or-treating in November 2021. Sources close to the family have told HollywoodLife that the two moms have mutual respect for each other, especially after Bennifer got hitched. “Jen welcomed J.Lo into their family, officially, after they got married,” the insider explained. “Jen respects J.Lo as a woman and as a mother. She appreciates how J.Lo looks after her children the same way she looks after her own.”
Even though the newlywed couple are happy to have a blended family, an insider also revealed to HL that they don’t have more baby plans. “They do not want any new children – they are both past that part in their lives,” they said.
Violet Affleck
As mentioned before, Ben and Jennifer have kept their kids mostly out of the spotlight, but they occasionally offer glimpses into their children’s lives. Violet was born in December 2005. Their eldest daughter has grown up to look so much like her mom! When Jennifer testified about paparazzi laws, she revealed that her oldest daughter actually stood up and addressed the California State Assembly to speak about photographers following them. Jennifer described her as “hyper-articulate” and taking after her dad in a THR interview. Aside from what her mom has said, Violet also clearly has a great fashion sense, and she was seen in a white off-shoulder dress during her dad’s wedding to Jennifer Lopez. While not too much else is known about her, she has been seen out-and-about with her mom, dad, and new step-mom on plenty of occasions.
Seraphina Rose Elizabeth Affleck
The couple’s middle daughter Seraphina was born in January 2009. While very little has been made public about the pair’s second child, her parents did reunite to attend her sixth-grade graduation ceremony together in June 2021. It also seems like she’s bonded with J.Lo’s child Emme, 14, as their parents have re-sparked their romance. While the families were vacationing in Paris after the wedding, Emme and Seraphina were seen holding hands as they walked, showing that they’re excellent step-siblings.
Samuel Affleck
Ben and Jennifer welcomed their son Samuel in February 2012. The pair’s youngest child has been seen out and about with both parents on plenty of occasions, and it seems like he’s an avid swimmer. Both parents have been seen bringing him to and from swim practice and hitting local pools.
Samuel did make headlines when he seemingly accidentally reversed a Lamborghini into a parked BMW, while joining his dad and J.Lo car-shopping in June 2022. A source close to his mom revealed to HollywoodLife that the actress was “not happy” with her ex-husband for letting him get behind the wheel.