Robert De Niro has spoken fondly of his seven children over the years — but hasn’t sugarcoated how hard parenting a slew of kids can be.
The Oscar winner welcomed his first son, Raphael, in 1976 with his then-wife, Diahnne Abbott. De Niro also adopted the actress’ daughter, Drena, from a previous relationship.
Following his split from his Taxi Driver costar, De Niro also became the father of twin sons Julian and Airyn with model Toukie Smith. Their children arrived via surrogate in 1995.
The Irishman star went on to marry philanthropist Grace Hightower two years later. They welcomed son Elliot and daughter Helen in 1998 and 2011, respectively.
Us confirmed in 2018 that De Niro and Hightower split for good after a brief break in between the births of their two children.
De Niro exclusively told Us in April 2019, “I love my children, just being with them,” four years before he welcomed his seventh child, daughter Gia, in April 2023 with girlfriend Tiffany Chen.
Scroll down for De Niro’s honest quotes about fatherhood:
