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Britney Spears said she felt "a huge part" of herself died when she lost custody of her sons in 2008.
Spears has two sons, Sean Preston and Jayden James, with her ex-husband Kevin Federline, with whom she was married from 2004 to 2007. However, Federline won full custody of their sons in 2008 and they have lived with their father since.
On Saturday, Spears shared a series of audio clips on Instagram, including one in which she spoke about her sense of loss after losing custody of her children.
"From when they were six to nine years old, I had them 70% of the time, and of course, since they've been gone I've honestly felt like a huge part of me has died," she said in one of the clips. "Like, literally, have no purpose anymore. They were my joy. They were my everything. I looked forward to seeing them. That was what I lived for and then all of sudden they were gone and I was like, 'Did my heart just stop beating?'"
Spears is currently in a feud with her ex-husband and her sons after they began to speak publicly about her relationship with them.
In August, Federline told the Daily Mail that the boys "have decided they are not seeing her right now."
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Spears has since responded with a series of now-deleted Instagram posts in which she said the decision was "pretty harsh" and called her sons "hateful."
Federline responded by sharing three since-deleted videos on Instagram of Spears appearing to argue with her two sons when they were younger.
In her audio clip on Saturday, Spears commented: "Honestly, I don't understand how it's so easy for them to cut me off like that."
The singer added in a later clip that she doesn't want her boys to visit until she "feels valued."
Earlier this month, Spears' youngest son, Jayden, told ITV News that his relationship with his mom "100%" could be "fixed."
"It's just going to take a lot of time and effort. I just want her to get better mentally," he continued. "When she gets better I really want to see her again."