Photographer wins Paternity Test Case

A Los Angeles photographer won a paternity battle over Anna Nicole Smith’s 'billion-dollar baby' after a paternity test proved that he was the father.

Paternity test victory

Smith's boyfriend, Howard Stern, was listed as the father on the birth certificate but after his paternity test court victory Mr Birkhead told a crowd outside the courthouse in the Bahamas, “I hate to be the one to tell you this but I told you so, I’m the father. My baby’s going to be coming home pretty soon. It’s been a long road and I’m just happy to have this behind me and to be able to start a life with my daughter.”

Paternity test - stern words

Mr Stern, who had threatened to sue for defamation after recent press publicity, said that was “obviously very disappointed” that the paternity test proved he was not the father of eight-month-old Dannielynn.

But Mr Stern hugged Mr Birkhead front of the cameras and said that he would not stand in the way of the photographer's custody of the child following the paternity test. “We are going to do what we can to make sure the best interests of Dannielynn are carried out,” he said after the paternity test.

Drug tragedy leads to paternity test case

Having started out as a stripper, Smith became the 1993 Playboy Playmate of the Year and star of a reality television show. She gave birth to Dannielynn three days before her 20-year-old son, Daniel, died of a drug overdose. The legal battle and paternity test case over the baby began before Smith herself died after taking a combination of nine prescription drugs in a Florida hotel at the age of 39.

Paternity test - Inheritance

Dannielynn has been named the 'billion-dollar baby' because, after the paternity test, she stands to inherit a fortune from the estate of her mother’s late husband, Texas oilman J. Howard Marshall II, who died in 1995.

Paternity test court case

Birkhead and Smith met at the Kentucky Derby when he was assigned to photograph her. A 2½ year affair ensued, which ended soon after Smith announced that she was pregnant with his child, though Mr Birkhead played an active role early in the pregnancy.

But then Smith broke off their relationship and moved to the Bahamas in what he alleged was a deliberate attempt to keep the baby away from him.

When asked what he thought Smith’s reaction would have been to his successful paternity test court case, he said: “I think she would be proud I fought it.”

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