Father of Palin's baby going to GOP Convention

03 September 2008 @ 12:37 pm EDT

Levi Johnston, the boyfriend of Sarah Palin's 17-year-old pregnant daughter Bristol, is going to join the Palin family at the Republican National Convention, according to his mother.

Levi Johnston, the boyfriend and father of Bristol Palin`s baby. (AP/ MySpace)

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Sherry Johnston told reporters that Levi, 18, left Alaska on Tuesday to fly to St. Paul, Minn., according to the Associated Press.

GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin is due to deliver a speech on Wednesday night and, by tradition, the members of her family would join her at the conclusion of her lecture.

Bristol, the 17-year-old daughter of Alaska Governor and presumptive Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin, is five-months pregnant.

When asked whether the young couple had been pressured to marry, the boy's mother said the two teenagers had not been pressured to marry, but had made the decision before finding out that Bristol was pregnant.

"This is just a bonus," Sherry Johnston said.

A Palin relative told People magazine that the couple's romance and pregnancy was not a secret among family members in Wasilla.

"They kind of let everyone know [last May] and word traveled quick," the relative says. "We were surprised, but everyone is positive."