Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck’s Oldest Daughter Graduates from High School, Leaving Star Mom Emotional — Photos

Jennifer Garner celebrated her eldest daughter Violet Affleck’s high school graduation with tearful photos. As she prepares for Violet’s college journey, Jennifer embraces her second child's surprising name change and gender-neutral pronouns, which netizens link to her stepsister's influence.

Jennifer Garner shared an emotional tribute on Instagram as her 18-year-old daughter, Violet Affleck, graduated from high school. Violet is Jennifer's daughter with her ex-husband, Ben Affleck. The former couple also has a daughter, Seraphina Rose, and a son, Samuel.

The proud mom posted a carousel of photos and a video, expressing her heartfelt emotions about the milestone. Her caption read, "Tell me you have a graduate without telling me you have a graduate. 🎓 (bless our hearts 🥺♥️🤣)."

In the photos, Jennifer documented her journey to attend the graduation. One image showed her sitting inside a plane, dressed in a checkered shirt, wiping her eyes with a tissue.

A video captured her saying, "I hope we can make it." Another photo depicted her in a white shirt and an ID sling, wiping tears from her eyes.

In the final snap, she wore a dark blue shirt and black sweater, complete with 2024 sunglasses. Her emotion was evident as the lines on her forehead and eyebrows drew together.

The post resonated with many celebrities who offered their support in the comments. Gwyneth Paltrow commented, "I'm sooooo with you."

Meanwhile, Ree Drummond remarked, "It's a deep, searing pain/joy/grief/pride/mourning!!! Congratulations!" Reese Witherspoon added, "Oh honey... I know...You have done a great job, mama! I will be here for support and lots of hugs."

Jennifer has been candid about Violet's journey before her graduation. In November 2023, she discussed the college tours she had with her daughter in an interview on "Live with Kelly and Mark." She described the selection process as a whirlwind of excitement and stress.

Despite the mixed feelings, Jennifer is confident in Violet's ability to navigate the process successfully. She praised her daughter's self-starter attitude, saying, "She's handling it like a champ and she's totally in charge."

As Violet prepares for college, her close relationship with Jennifer has been notable. They were recently seen in Santa Monica, wearing matching clothes and holding hands.

Jennifer wore a blue floral dress, a buttoned white shirt, and a grey cardigan. She completed her look with a matching gold necklace, brown sunglasses, and sneakers.

Violet donned a white sundress with a pink flower print, which she paired with black shoes. They were all smiles as they held hands after leaving an event, as Jennifer was still wearing her nametag.

The duo's sweet bond was further showcased in December 2022. They attended a state dinner at the White House hosted by President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden.

Jennifer dazzled in a long black sequinned gown, with matching black heels and a clutch. Meanwhile, Violet wore a black heart-printed dress, a clutch, and red heels.

While Jennifer has been notably embracing the changes with Violet's recent graduation, she is also navigating the transitions with her second child, Seraphina. Seraphina has reportedly debuted a new name and is now called Fin.

A media outlet reported in April that Fin stepped into the public eye, sporting a buzz cut, an oversized T-shirt with sleeves that cleverly mimicked tattooed arms and cargo shorts. The teen was about to meet Jennifer at a nail salon.

Although they only recently addressed themselves as Fin, the teen had given subtle hints of their self-discovery journey way before publicizing their new name. Eagle-eyed fans previously spotted "Fin" embroidered on a backpack they carried during a routine school bus drop-off earlier this year in Brentwood, LA.

Even before that, Fin had been photographed rocking boyish haircuts and dressing in masculine attire on several occasions, most notably while out with their close step-sibling Emme Muñiz. Both of them use gender-neutral pronouns.

Fin's most recent sighting has garnered wide-scale attention from social media users. In addition to criticizing Fin and their parents, many claimed that Emme has had an undue influence on Fin.

“Influenced by JLo’s they/them daughter, Emme. A middle child screaming for attention from her father” commented one user.

Similarly, another added, “She spent some time with her step sibling and this is what came of it. She seems so sad.” Another person claimed, "This is what happens when your kids hangout with JLo's kids."

Someone else who had strong views on how Fin is raised wrote, “How old is this girl?? Just curious as to why parents agree to allow kids [to get] tattoos under the age of 18???? Also, changing their names??? Parents have stopped being parents. Want to be friends instead.”

In response to the aforementioned comment, a fan clarified, “UH, that’s a T SHIRT, NOT tattoos!” Referencing Fin's mom, another social media user said, "I've known about this for a long time but to be honest I'm surprised Garner allowed it. She's very traditional."

Although there were a lot of negative comments shared, there were some people who showed Fin and her mom support. “Traditional but supportive and loves her child unconditionally so I’m not surprised,” expressed a fan.

Like the "Alias" star, Emme's mom, Jennifer "JLo" Lopez, is also extremely supportive of Emme. The music icon has taken opportunities to embrace her child's expressions of self-identity, like at the 2022 LA Dodgers Foundation's Blue Diamond Gala where they both performed.

JLo addressed Emme by her preferred pronouns while talking to the audience: "They cost me when they come out, but they're worth every single penny because they're my favorite duet partner of all time."

Despite what naysayers have to say about both Fin and Emme and how they choose to express themselves, they have the unconditional love of their doting family.