How Many Kids Does Arnold Schwarzenegger Have?
Arnold Schwarzenegger Says He and Maria Shriver Bring Kids "Together As a Family" for Special Days
Arnold Schwarzenegger has been a household name for almost six decades, and through the years, he's earned dozens of titles, including actor, bodybuilder, politician, businessman, and philanthropist. He received possibly his most important title in 1989 when he became a dad for the very first time. He went on to welcome four more children, with his youngest being born in 1997.
He shares four children — two sons and two daughters — with ex-wife Maria Shriver. News of his fifth child did not come until 2011 when he revealed he had fathered another son, Joseph Baena, with his longtime housekeeper Mildred Baena, per The Hollywood Reporter. Mildred had given birth to Joseph the same year Maria and Arnold welcomed their youngest son, Christopher, together.
Arnold opened up about the impact having an affair had on everyone in his life in his May 2023 Netflix docuseries, "Arnold," calling it one of his biggest failures. "I think that I have caused enough pain for my family because of my f*ck up. Everyone had to suffer. Maria had to suffer. The kids had to suffer. Joseph. His mother. Everyone," he said, adding, "I am going to have to live with it the rest of my life. People will remember my successes, and they will also remember my failures. This is a major failure. I had failures in the past in my career, but this is a whole different ball game, dimension of failure."
He stressed, however, that Joseph is very much a loved and welcome part of his life. "It was wrong what I did," he explained in "Arnold." "But I don't want to make Joseph feel that he is not welcomed in this world — because he is very much welcomed in this world. I love him and he has turned out to be an extraordinary young man."
Despite the fact Maria filed for divorce shortly after the news of Arnold's fifth child was made public, per People, the former couple have continued to be very involved and supportive parents of their adult children, even showing up together for special occasions. In a December 2017 interview with Men's Journal, Arnold shared that he thinks about his affair "every so often," noting that he's done his best to move forward for his children.
In May 2023, Arnold spoke to The Hollywood Reporter about how he and Maria handled their divorce and put their kids first. "I love my wife. She and I are really good friends and very close, and we are very proud of the way we raised our kids," he explained. "Even though we had this drama, we did Easter together, Mother's Day together, the Christmases together, all birthdays — everything together. If there's Oscars for how to handle divorce, Maria and I should get it for having the least amount of impact on the kids. The sweetness and kindness you see in them, that's from my wife. The discipline and work ethic is from me."
In "Arnold," he expanded on his and Maria's continued partnership as parents, explaining, "There is nothing more important than to have a good partner by your side, and every step of the way Maria was that. We have a really great relationship," he said. "Any type of special day, we are all together as a family. But it's not what it was when we were all together under one roof as a family. That's not the case anymore."
To find out more about Arnold's tight-knit family, scroll through this gallery.
Katherine Schwarzenegger
Christina Schwarzenegger
Patrick Schwarzenegger
Christopher Schwarzenegger
Joseph Baena
More Photos of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Kids
