“I am Quinn’s father,” Edwards said in a statement, referring to Frances Quinn Hunter, the toddler he fathered with the videographer, Rielle Hunter. “. . . It was wrong for me ever to deny she was my daughter and hopefully one day, when she understands, she will forgive me.” Edwards confessed last August to having an affair with Hunter, who worked as a videographer to document his 2008 campaign despite no previous experience. Originally he denied fathering his former mistress’ year-and-a-half old daughter, saying his relationship with Hunter ended before the child was conceived. But that story was debunked when reporters caught him sneaking out of a hotel at 4am after visiting Hunter and her baby. At the time, Edwards tried to duck into a public restroom to avoid the waiting cameras, but had to face the music after realizing he was indeed caught. Andrew Young, a long-time Edwards aide, initially tried to be the fall guy and assist Edwards in the cover-up by claiming to be the actual father of Hunter’s child. But that was soon verified to also be untrue.
The name of the girl’s father isn’t disclosed on her birth certificate, but that may soon change now that Edwards admits what many expected all along. Edwards has been married for more than three decades to Elizabeth Edwards, who is battling a second round and now terminal form of breast cancer. They have four children together, the eldest of whom, Wade, died in a car accident in 1996. The couple’s two youngest children are not yet high school age. Although devastated by her husband’s admission of infidelity, Elizabeth Edwards has recognized she could be in the final stages of life and has chosen to remain by his side.
