'Secret Lives' Star Mikayla Matthews Had Her First Child at 16

The first season of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is now available to stream in its entirety on Hulu, and the Mormon wives who make up the cast each have different reasons for starting chatter online. Mikayla Matthews, the 24-year-old mom to three, picked up some scrutiny from her followers after the age gap between her and her husband, Jace Terry, was pointed out.

Though a five-year age gap isn't necessarily that large between two adults, Mikayla was only 16 when she became pregnant with the first child she shares with Jace. At the time, he was 21.

Despite the controversy, the pair got married and are still together today, raising their three kids side by side.

In the first episode of Secret Lives, Mikayla admitted that she had her oldest child at only 16, falling pregnant before she and Jace wed. Beckham, their oldest (and only) son, is now seven years old. Six months after Beckham was born, Jace and Mikayla got married.

Unfortunately, because she got pregnant in high school, she had to drop out and finish her degree online. She shared in a TikTok video that this all happened at a "very low point" in her life while she was living with her sister.

"I moved out of my mom’s house and in with my sister when I was 15 years old. I met a guy when I was 16 at a very low point in my life,” Mikayla wrote in the video. “I found out I was pregnant after less than a month of knowing each other. I decided to keep the baby, told him and he was 110% supportive and we went from there.”

“I finished high school online and suffered from depression throughout my entire pregnancy," she continued. "I had my son and he was the best thing to ever happen to me. I married my now-husband when our son was 6 months old.”

After getting married, Jace and Mikayla continued to grow their family. After Beckham, they had two daughters: Haven, who was born just one year after their marriage, and Tommie, who was born in 2021.

Haven just had her first day of Kindergarten in August, while Beckham started second grade.

As a member of MomTok, Mikayla has consistently shared looks into her life raising her kids online. Though she initially received some concerned comments for the age gap between her and her husband (specifically when they conceived their first child together), they've since brushed it off and joked about their age difference in videos online.

At this time, Mikayla and Jace have not shared if they have any plans to expand their family further. Three kids is a handful on their own, and though the reality star has been able to support her family through her online platform, it's still a big undertaking to bring another member into the family.