DNA tests have at last revealed the
father of Anna Nicole Smith's seven-month-old daughter - the late
Playboy model's boyfriend Larry Birkhead.
Smith gave birth to Dannielynn in Bahamas on Sep 7, just days
before her 20-year-old son Daniel died at her bedside from a lethal
combination of drugs. She died Feb 8, at the age of 39, also from a
deadly mix of prescription drugs.
"I hate to be the one who told you this, but I told you so,"
Birkhead told reporters outside a Bahamas courthouse Tuesday. "I'm
the father."
Then he began to choke back the tears, reports www.hollywood.tv.
"Thank you for your support. My baby's going to come home pretty
soon," he added.
Asked when he would take Dannielynn home, he said: "Things are
moving quickly here, and we'll see what happens."
He was followed by his attorney, Emrick Knowles, who told
reporters: "We'll be back in the court on Friday afternoon. We've
got some other issues to deal with. I won't make any specific
comment, other than to say that the judge hasn't made any ruling
about custody yet."
Howard K. Stern, Smith's lawyer and companion, who was listed on
the baby's birth certificate as father, embraced Birkhead outside
the court.
"We're going to do what we can to make sure that the best interests
of Dannielynn are carried out," said Stern. "And I'm going to do
whatever I can to make sure that he gets sole custody."
When asked if Birkhead could see Dannielynn immediately, Stern
replied, "Larry can come over to the house and spend as much time
with her as he wants to right now."
The baby, whose full name is Dannielynn Hope Marshall Stern, will
most likely inherit millions from the estate of Texas oil baron J.
Howard Marshall II, Smith's late husband who died in
1995.