Famous Love Children And Their Celebrity Parents

Despite initially trying to keep everything hush-hush and professional, the real reason why Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver split after a quarter of a century together finally came out this week. Arnold Schwarzenegger & Maria Shriver Split After 25 Years  Turns out, the ex-governor of California had fathered a love child more than a decade ago with a former member of their household staff (she retired after 20 years in January). 10 Reasons Maria Shriver Is Better Without Arnold Schwarzenegger Although the Australian actor's behavior is appalling, especially since so many saw the Schwarzennegger-Schriver marriage as iconic, the bodybuilder is certainly not alone in his actions. In fact, he's not even the first politician to be in this situation. In honor of Arnold's recent secret baby daddy confession, here are a few other famous love children that were minus one (publicly acknowledged) parent at birth. You may not recognize them, but you probably know who their missing father is.

Francis Quinn Hunter. Talk about controversy, Arnold Schwarzenneger has nothing on politician John Edwards. Francis is the daughter of John Edwards and Rielle Hunter. John and Rielle had a secret relationship during his 2008 presidential run (she worked as a filmmaker for the campaign). Rielle went so far as to not list anyone as the father on her daughter's birth certificate, and even told The National Enquirer that she had an affair with Andrew Young, a married staffer working for John Edwards. John Edwards' Love-Child Hush-Money Cover-Up Even after admitting to having an affair with Rielle, Edwards continued to deny fathering a child with her until January of 2010, 22 months after Francis was born. Not surprisingly, all this ended John's marriage with his wife Elizabeth, who later died of cancer. Oh yeah, and did we mention John and Rielle had a sex tape? John Edwards Sex Tape. Plus, Love Child Is His!

Essie Mae Washington-Williams. Another daughter from a political scandal, Essie Mae was born to Senator James Strom Thurmond and Carrie "Tunch" Butler, a maid for Strom's parents. Essie was born when Carrie was only 16-years-old and Strom was 22, and neither were married (to each other or anyone else). Although he supported his daughter throughout her life financially and even paid for her college education, Strom never acknowledged Essie publicly as his daughter. It wasn't until he died in 2003 that Essie revealed who her true father was. Essie claims that she never spoke up about the truth while her dad was alive out of respect and love for her father. So John, there's hope for you yet that your daughter will forgive you in time.

Pearl Button Anderson. Pearl is not even a year old yet, but she's already causing international drama. Things have gotten so bad between her parents that Pearl's mother, Frances Anderson, sued Pearl's father, Oscar-winning film producer and director Steven Soderbergh, for child support. Frances and Steven had a brief sexual relationship in December 2009, while Steven was married (but separated) to his wife, writer and former model Jules Asner. The Erin Brokovich director has since been scientifically proven to be Pearl's father through a DNA test. Nevertheless, Steven isn't interested in helping to support his child and has yet to lay eyes on his daughter in the flesh.

Prince Harry. There's no concrete proof, but Prince Harry's true lineage has been a constant question for the media in the past. Prince Harry Is Single Officially, he is the son of Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana, but others have speculated that Prince Harry is really a product of Princess Diana and James Hewitt's love affair. Prince William & Kate Middleton Are Married!  Luckily for the prince, either way he is still enjoying life as a royal and Prince Charles has never succumbed to taking the ever-telling DNA test.

Ruth Clapton and Conor Clapton. Eric Clapton has certainly been busy. He had not one, but two children from two different mistresses while married to Pattie Boyd. He had a daugther, Ruth, with Yvonne Kelly in 1985. However, it wasn't until 1991 that the public learned Ruth was the musician's daughter. Despite the secrecy, Ruth has asserted that Eric never shirked his fatherly responsibilities.  

Eric had another child, Conor, from a different affair, this time with Italian model Lori Del Santo. Conor died tragically when he was four-years-old after falling from the 53rd story window out of a New York City apartment. His death became the basis for Eric's famous song, "Tears in Heaven."

Alexandra Stevenson and Jules Madden. Former NBA player Julius "Dr. J" Erving was married to Turquoise Erving for over 30 years. Nevertheless, during that time he had at least two affairs and had two children outside his marriage. His first love child was with sportswriter Samantha Stevenson with whom he had a daughter, tennis player Alexandra Stevenson. Julius supported the tennis pro, but their relationship was not made public until she reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1999. Even then, they did not have a personal relationship until 2008, 27 years after Alexandra's birth. Their eventual meeting was documented by ESPN's "Reaching Out."

Julius later had an affair with Dorys Madden. In 2003, Dorys gave birth to a son, Jules. After hearing about her husband's second affair, Turquoise called it quits with the NBA Hall of Famer and filed for divorce.

Know any other famous love children? Share below!