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Young characters being rapidly-aged on daytime soap operas is a huge part of the genre. It doesn’t happen after a certain year or age, but depending on writers at the time, it could take place whenever.

Sometimes when it happens, it creates frictions in the shows timelines and will have certain kids aged differently than others born in different time periods, such as on General Hospital with Elizabeth Webber’s son Cameron and Carly Corinthos’ daughter, Josslyn Jacks.

Rebecca Herbst as Elizabeth Webber on 'General Hospital' in 2016
Rebecca Herbst as Elizabeth Webber on ‘General Hospital’ in 2016 | Rick Rowell/Walt Disney Television via Getty Images

A rundown of Elizabeth Webber’s kids on ‘General Hospital’

Webber has three children, all boys. Each of her sons has a different father. The oldest is Cameron Webber, born in 2004. Cameron is the biological son of Zander Smith, but he was raised by Lucky Spencer and considers Lucky to be his father.

, all boys. Each of her sons has a different father. The oldest is Cameron Webber, born in 2004. Cameron is the biological son of Zander Smith, but he was raised by Lucky Spencer and considers Lucky to be his father.

Her second son, Jake Webber, was once thought by everyone to be the son of Lucky Spencer. However, Jason Morgan is his biological father. Jake was born in 2007.

Elizabeth’s third son, Aiden Spencer, is biologically the son of Lucky Spencer. Aiden was born in 2010.

The impact that rapid-aging had on the characters

It is very rare for a child on a daytime soap-opera to age in real-time. One of the few instances is General Hospital‘s Kimberly McCullough as Robin Scorpio. McCullough portrayed Scorpio as a child, teen, and adult in four different decades.

Cameron Webber was aged when Cade McWatt took over the role in 2018. Shortly after this, William Lipton was recast in the role. Cameron was aged to be around the same age as Josslyn Jacks. However, Josslyn was born about half of a decade after Cameron in 2009, creating a blip in the show’s aging process.

But this is due to the fact that Josslyn’s birthdate and age have been changed a number of times since she was first born on-screen. Cameron, however, remains very close to his real-time birthdate on the show.

Because Cameron was not rapidly-aged several years ago like Josslyn was when her time came, this means that Jake and Aiden aren’t going to be rapidly-aged anytime soon. It would be hard to explain the two characters, both played by child actors, any closer to Cameron in age, so this means that they will probably have to be aged in real-time like Cameron. This could change in the event that Cameron and Josslyn are recast and get new ages and birthdates, then Jake and Aiden could grow faster.

Even then, that seems like a stretch to think about for now. In the meantime, at least, it looks like these kids and teens are going to be like this for a while.

General Hospital airs weekdays on ABC.