When John McCain chose Sarah Palin to be his vice presidential running mate in late August 2008 , his advisers had already been informed of her 17-year-old daughter Bristol 's pregnancy , which they believed would be a political liability because the teen was unmarried . On September 1 , the opening day of the 2008 Republican National Convention , it was publicly announced that Palin was pregnant and engaged to Levi Johnston , the father of her child . Palin 's entire family , along with Johnston , appeared at the convention . McCain 's advisers reportedly thought a wedding between Johnston and Palin would boost the waning popularity of the McCain-Palin ticket . Johnston denied claims that he was being pressured into a shotgun wedding , stating , " We were planning on getting married a long time ago with or without the kid . That was the plan from the start . " Two months after her 18th birthday , Palin and Johnston 's son , Tripp Easton Mitchell Johnston-Palin , was born December 27 , 2008 . In response to the suggestion that it would have been more prudent to abort her pregnancy and that she only carried it to term because of her mother 's views on the issue she responded : ' It does n't matter what my mom 's views are on it . It was my decision . ' Palin and Johnston ended their engagement in March 2009 . In November 2009 , a custody and child support case was filed in a local Alaska court . Palin asked the court to use pseudonyms for herself and Johnston to keep the normally public proceedings private , arguing that the media attention would not be good for the child . Johnston argued for open proceedings , as the power of the Palin family was relevant to the case , which he claimed he wanted to be decided on the merits , and that he did " not feel protected against Sarah Palin in a closed proceeding . " In December 2009 , on Tripp 's first birthday , the judge ruled in favor of Johnston , and it was publicly announced that the pair had been battling for legal custody . Palin tried to win full custody rights and child support consistent with Johnston 's income , made statements that Johnston had " exercised sporadic visitation rights " , and tried to present him as a bad father by speculating without offering evidence that he " wants the rights for his own self-promotion " . Johnston sought shared custody and lower child support payments
2008 Republican National Convention
2008 Republican National Convention
Bristol Palin