Baby surprise! Robert De Niro, 68, and wife, 56, welcome a child via surrogate
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 1:16 AM on 24th December 2011
Robert De Niro has become a father again at the age of 68.
The Oscar-winner and wife Grace Hightower De Niro, 56, welcomed their daughter through a surrogate mother, Entertainment Tonight reports.
Baby joy: Robert De Niro and his wife Grace Hightower have welcomed a daughter via surrogate
The baby, whom they've named Helen Grace Hightower, weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces.
They also have a 13-year-old son, Elliot.
De Niro has four other children - daughter Drena, 40, and son Raphael, 35, with former wife Diahnne Abbott, as well as 16-year-old twin sons Julian and Aaron, born via surrogate with ex-girlfriend Toukie Smith.
The couple have been been married for almost 14 years but are rarely photographed together, choosing to keep their relationship out of the spotlight.
Solid couple: De Niro and Hightower at the Kennedy Centre Honours in Washington earlier this month
Top of his game: The couple attended the New York premiere of his film, New Year's Eve, on December 7
De Niro and Hightower met in 1987 and married ten years later.
After hitting a rough patch, the pair managed to reconcile and renew their vows in front of friends and family at a romantic ceremony back in 2004.
The couple's early marital troubles played out on a public scale, with a 1999 divorce filing by Robert De Niro and a 2001 custody case over their son Elliot.
But after their second set of vows, the couple became resolutely private about their renewed relationship.
We are family: De Niro and Hightower with their son Elliot at the Cap d'Antibes, during the Cannes Film Festival, in May this year
Hands on father: De Niro admits it's difficult with children by different mothers, but he's determined to be there for all of his brood
They've been solid ever since, and De Niro is a devoted father to all this children.
He told the Daily Mail: 'One of the most important lessons I've learned in my years as a father is to keep the lines of communication open with my kids.'
'I have five of them, ranging in age from 14 to their 30s, by three mothers, so I guess you could call it a fractionalised family of sorts.'
Always by his side: De Niro arrives at the Vanity Fair Oscar party with Hightower in 2009
'But I care deeply about all of them, and I have made a conscious effort to talk to and to listen to them.'
'Sometimes it's hard to talk to kids, especially when they're teenagers.
They're in their own world, and they don't look like they're even listening to you.'
'But that's the time when it's most important to find a way to talk to them - not to lecture them, but to tell them things I think are important for them to know.'
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