The woman with whom Arnold Schwarzenegger fathered a child more than 10 years ago has been named as his former housekeeper, Mildred Patricia Baena.
Baena, now 50, worked for the former California governor and his wife Maria Shriver for over 20 years before retiring in January.
Her identity was revealed by a joint investigation by Star magazine and RadarOnline.com. The Los Angeles Times was the first to interview her but chose not to reveal her identity or that of her son.
Baena, who goes by the name "Patty," performed cooking and cleaning duties for the family at their mansion in Brentwood, Calif. She reportedly earned US$1,200 per week.
The reports say she didn't inform Schwarzanegger that her son was his until the boy was a toddler. Schwarzenegger is said to have contributed financially to the boy's upbringing before eventually confessing his affair to his wife in January.
Radaronline.com reports that Baena did not retire in January but in fact worked for the family until four weeks ago. She allegedly threatened to go public with details of the affair when Schwarzenegger fired her in a bid to save his marriage to Shriver.
Schwarzenegger, 63, and Shriver, 55, jointly announced last week they were splitting up after 25 years of marriage. They have four children who range in age from 13 to 21.
After the L.A. Times revealed on Tuesday that Schwarzenegger fathered the child with the staffer, Shriver released a statement expressing her disappointment:
"This is a painful and heartbreaking time. As a mother, my concern is for the children. I ask for compassion, respect and privacy as my children and I try to rebuild our lives and heal. I will have no further comment."
Two of their four children mentioned the news in posts on Twitter.
"Some days you feel like s---, some days you want to quit and just be normal for a bit," tweeted 17-year-old Patrick Schwarzenegger, quoting the band Fort Minor's heartbreak song "Where'd You Go." Adding his own words, he said, "Yet I love my family till death do us apart."
His 21-year-old sister, Katherine Schwarzenegger, followed later in the day. "This is definitely not easy but I appreciate your love and support as i begin to heal and move forward in life," she said. "I will always love my family!"
Schwarzenegger admitted his paternity late Monday, after the L.A. Times interviewed the former staffer. The newspaper reported she originally told them that her former husband was the child's father. When the paper informed her that Schwarzenegger had released a statement admitting his paternity, she declined to comment further.
Since Schwarzenegger left office in January, he and Shriver have effectively been leading separate lives.
Shriver, a longtime television journalist who gave up her job at NBC when Schwarzenegger took office, appeared Tuesday at Oprah Winfrey's farewell show in Chicago, but didn't mention the scandal.
