Smith's Lawyer Reveals He's the Baby Daddy

Zap2It.com | September 27, 2006

Anna Nicole Smith

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Baby girl is named Dannie Lynn Hope

While the cause of death for Anna Nicole Smith's son is still a mystery, at least the secret behind her baby's father has been revealed.

Howard K. Stern, the former Playboy Playmate's lawyer, said on CNN's "Larry King Live" Tuesday (Sept. 26) that he's the father of Smith's newborn baby girl.

The child, named Dannie Lynn Hope, was born in the Bahamas on Sept. 7, just three days before Smith's 20-year-old son was found dead in her hospital room of unknown causes. Stern says that Dannie is "the one thing that is really keeping her going. And through it all, even with all the pain, she has been a great mom, a very attentive mom."

He adds, "I am very excited about [being a father]. I wish it was under different circumstances. We will never get over Daniel not being with us but at the same time we have a big responsibility and a big bundle of joy that hopefully, hopefully, will not be affected at all by what we are going through right now."

The paternity will come as a surprise to many, since ex-photographer Larry Birkhead wanted to claim fathership bragging rights when it was revealed that Smith was preganant. In June, the TrimSpa spokeswoman confirmed her pregnancy in an online video diary, but hinted that the public had been mislead about the identity of the baby's father.

Stern explained why the couple initially hid their romance.

"We love each other and it's been going on for a very long time and because of my relationship as her lawyer, we felt it was best to keep everything hidden," he said. "And we've done a pretty good job of that."

So, is a walk down the aisle planned?

"I've loved her for quite some time and hopefully the feeling's mutual," he said. "At some point, we will [marry]. Right now we have to somehow get through what we're going through."

Meanwhile, authorities are awaiting results of toxicology tests to announce Daniel Smith's cause of death. He is Anna Nicole's son from her first marriage. The former reality show star didn't have a child by her second husband, the late Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II, but a recent Supreme Court ruling allows her to pursue his fortune.