Mel Gibson's Girlfriend, 26, Is Pregnant With His 9th Child

Well, Mel Gibson certainly does have a brave heart to enlist for Daddy Duty a ninth time.

The actor/director's girlfriend of two years, screenwriter and former champion equestrian vaulter Rosalind Ross, is pregnant with a baby due in early 2017. Gibson's rep confirmed the news to People, and a friend added that the pair are "so excited" about their bundle of joy. "Mel loves being a dad and he and Rose can't wait to be parents together," the friend said. "The last two years have been some of his happiest years he's ever had."

Gibson, 60, has seven children with his ex-wife Robin, and one with ex Oksana Grigorieva. (TMZ added the "fun" fact that Gibson's oldest and youngest children are 36 and 6, respectively.)

This will be the first child for 26-year-old Ross, who used to do cool stuff like this...

#TBT: AVA Hall of Famers Rosalind Ross & Devon Maitozo perform together at the 2012 Vaulting World Championships in Le Mans, France. Photo: Daniel Kaiser #vaulting #equestrianvaulting #equestrian #horses #gymnastics #acro #dirtydancing #motivation #vaultingmotivation

A photo posted by US Equestrian Vaulting (@usavaulting) on Jun 25, 2015 at 7:02pm PDT

...and now does cool stuff like writing the script for Ellen Page's indie Iraq War drama, "Lioness."

Meanwhile, Mel Gibson is getting press on the career front, too, with the World War II drama he directed, "Hacksaw Ridge," opening in theaters November 4, just in time for Oscar talk.

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