No dad listed for child; John Edwards aide claims paternity

(The News & Observer) - No father is listed on the birth certificate of a child who a tabloid newspaper claims is linked to former Sen. John Edwards.

The document doesn't help to clear up repeated allegations by the National Enquirer that the N.C. Democrat had a sexual relationship, and later a baby, with Rielle Hunter, who had been hired last year by Edwards' presidential campaign.

The certificate, obtained by The Charlotte Observer on Thursday, shows Frances Quinn Hunter was born Feb. 27, more than two months after an Edwards aide claimed to be the father. Andrew Young, a former Edwards campaign finance director, claimed paternity in a December statement from his lawyer, posted at the political blog mydd.com.

The girl was born at Cottage Hospital in Santa Barbara, Calif., to Rielle Jaya James Druck, also known as Rielle Hunter. Hunter, 44, was a videographer on Edwards' presidential campaign last year.

Asked Thursday why no father was listed on the birth certificate, Hunter's attorney, Robert Gordon of New York, said, “A lot of women do that.”

Gordon declined to comment further.