[Ed. note: The liberal web site Daily Kos has a photo-laden article on this rumor/theory/unsubstantiated claim. Also corrected "daughter" to "son" typo in headline. UPDATE: See this story/announcement.]

Alaskan Governor's child may be her daughter's?
by Paul Tosone

The nation has been abuzz today with talk of Sarah Palin, John McCain's surprise vice-presidential pick. The internet and news media exploded in the hours following the announcement.

Along with all the stories making their way through the news cycle is one regarding Trig Palin, her youngest child. Apparently, there has been suspicion, some reported through Alaskan media outlets even before the Vice Presidential buzz, that the child actually belongs to her daughter, Bristol Palin. Normally this would be a personal issue, but this becomes a public matter because of Sarah Palin's stance against abortion and birth control, promoting 'abstinence only' beliefs.

The story seems ludicrious, and surely the GOP workers that vetted her would have stopped McCain from choosing her if anything like this were true. Only, now it has come out that Governor Sarah Palin was not vetted properly. The McCain camp states that they didn't feel it was necessary.

Even if it is entirely false and ludicrous, people are talking about it, and are quite interested in it. It has cropped up on a number of liberal and conservative blogs and sites. One Republican blog pre-empted the rumors, urging people to support Governor Palin "no matter what happens." It is absurd to believe Barack Obama is a Muslim, but that hasn't stopped 10% to 15% of America believing it is true. It remains to be seen if this story will sprout legs. So far, no media outlet has outright disproved the rumor (which should be very easy to do), though the Anchorage Daily News has reported the rumor.

The believers have a few scattered points:

1. Bristol Palin left school for an extended period of time, due to mononucleosis according to her family for the last 4-5 months of Trig's pregnancy. Some classmates claimed later that they had seen Bristol Palin pregnant.

2. Sarah Palin did not reveal to anyone outside her family that she was pregnant until 8 months into her pregnancy. Even then, she showed no signs of pregnancy. Alaskan news outlets commented on this, but did not go further. There are pictures of her at Super Tuesday (just a month before the baby was born).
http://www.adn.com/politics/story/339576.html

She is notably a very trim woman, so it would likely be difficult to hide a pregnancy.

3. There are supposed photos showing Bristol Palin having gained weight, possibly significantly so in the abdomen. I haven't been able to verify these.

4. Sarah Palin went into labor in Dallas just before she was due to deliver a keynote address at the Republican Governors' Energy Conference, and flew to Seattle, then Alaska while still in labor.
http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/apr/22/palins-flight-labor-falls-under-scrutiny/

Supposedly, she was in labor during the 8 hour flight, and the crew and attendants did not know.
(Quote from the Article Above):

""Governor Palin was extremely pleasant to flight attendants and her stage of pregnancy was not apparent by observation as she didn't show any signs of distress," Boren said."

This is extremely risky behavior, and you are advised by doctors, traditionally, not to fly once you are past 7 months pregnant. If airlines are made aware, sometimes they will prevent you from flying. Sarah Palin did not inform the flight.

5. Sarah has had four children before, and a prolonged labor that lasted a flight from Dallas to Alaska is extremely unlikely, as labor times usually decrease with the number of births.

6. There is also some rumor of an interview with a co-worker of Todd Palin at the oil fields in Prudhoe Bay (North Slope, where Todd Palin worked for BP), though I haven't been able to verify this. The co-worker claims Todd told him of the situation, supposedly.

7. Likewise, there were at the time a few classmates of Bristol's that claimed they had seen her pregnant.

8. Sarah Palin appeared 4 months before the baby's birth in Vogue magazine, and was "trim and lithe." (Searching for photos.)

Now, the counterpoints are that:

-Of course, this is all very far-fetched. Republicans would have vetted her and this would have never slipped past them

-She may not have been showing the pregnancy, despite her trim and slim frame, because of the low birthweight of infants with Downs Syndrome.

-Mothers at 44 (as Sarah Palin is), have an extremely high rate of Downs Syndrome in their children. However, this does not exclude Bristol Palin, as very young mothers also have an increased risk of Downs Syndrome in their children.

The attached photo is Sarah Palin at Super Tuesday (2-05-08), credit to Brian Wallace of the Juneau Empire.

I had another photo of Palin at the Dallas RGEC, but I cannot seem to locate it.

I was hoping you could just clear this matter up. It might make interesting filler, to have a story on what the internet has been talking about!

Paul Tosone
Atlanta, GA

UPDATE:

-A picture of Governor Palin at home with her family that was printed in the Anchorage Daily News, taken six weeks before Trig's birth on March 9th.
http://www.adn.com/news/alaska/v-gallery/story/339587.html?/news/alaska/v-enlarge/story/339587-a339583-t3.html

-This is a picture from the Alaskan Governor's website. It is only dated "2007." Some say that Bristol here appears to have perhaps a baby bump.
http://gov.state.ak.us/photos/PalinFamily_Outside_v01.jpg

-An Alaskan PodShow Podcast called Hike of the Week. Sarah Palin appears here and takes a hike and tour with the host. She is seven and a half months pregnant.
http://alaskapodshow.com/index.php/2008/02/20/my-visit-to-juneau-alaska/

-The Alaskan Government website has removed links to some photographs of the Palin family. This probably has nothing to do with this story here, but I thought I should mention it, for posterity.

-Here is an article posted on DailyKos that compiles much of the same information I have here.
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2008/8/30/121350/137/486/580223

-Here is an excerpt from a Wallstreet Journal article, accounting her labor, according to her:

Gov. Palin's opted to board a jet from Dallas in April while about to deliver a child. Gov. Palin, who was eight months pregnant, says she felt a few contractions shortly before she was to give a keynote speech to an energy summit of governors in Dallas. But she says she went ahead with it after her doctor in Alaska advised her to put her feet up to rest. "I was not going to miss that speech," she says.

She rushed so quickly from the podium afterwards that Texas Gov. Rick Perry nervously asked if she was about to deliver the baby then. She made it to the airport, and gave birth hours after landing in Anchorage to Trig, who is diagnosed with Down Syndrome. "Maybe they shouldn't have let me fly, but I wasn't showing much so they didn't know," she says."