In December, news spread that actor Robert De Niro had become a father again at the age of 68.
And Thursday his wife, actress Grace Hightower De Niro, was seen stepping out with their daughter Helen Grace in New York.
Grace, 56, was seen holding the baby little girl in a gray carrier, but kept her covered-up because of nearby paparazzi.
A former actress on the TV drama NYPD Blue, Hightower De Niro was dressed in an all black ensemble which she teamed with a chunky watch and a gold pendant necklace.
Grace and Robert De Niro welcomed the little girl, who was born through a surrogate mother, 2 months ago and weighed in at 7 pounds, 2 ounces.
The couple 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.
Robert and Grace have been been married for almost 14 years but are rarely photographed together, choosing to keep their relationship out of the spotlight.
De Niro and Hightower met in 1987 and married ten years later.
After hitting a rough patch, they managed to reconcile and renew their vows in front of friends and family at a romantic ceremony back in 2004.
Their 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.
They’ve been solid ever since, and De Niro is a devoted father to all his children.
He told reporters, “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 fractionalized family of sorts.”
“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,” he added.
He continued, “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.”
