Splashnews.com, AP

Abby has a lot to be thankful for! Not only was she rescued at sea, but now she also has a new little brother!

Abby Sunderland is a big sister again! Her parents, Marianne and Laurence Sunderland, welcomed their eighth child June 29 — a boy named Paul-Louis Sunderland! The healthy new addition to the Sunderland clan arrived while Abby, 16, was at a press conference in Marina del Rey, Calif.

Abby’s baby brother, who was born 8 lbs., 9 oz, was named after the French fishing boat captain who saved her, Paul Louis Le Moigne. Paul spent 30 hours on his boat, Ile de la Reunion, trying to find Abby while she was stranded on her 40-ft. sailboat in the Indian Ocean.

We’re so happy that Abby is safe and was able to share the joys of having a new baby brother!

— Chloe Melas

Read More On Abby Sunderland Here:

1. Abby Sunderland Speaks Out After Rescue: ‘I Was Terrified, But I Never Thought I’d Die’!
2. Breaking! Abby Sunderland’s Mom Is In Labor & Missed Her Daughter’s Big Press Conference!
3. Breaking News: 16-Year-Old Abby Sunderland Safe On Land And Defending Her Parents!
4. Breaking News: Sailor Abby Sunderland Finally Arriving On Land Tonight!

SplashNews.com

She’s home back in California, her mother’s in labor and she’s not planning any adventure trips or reality shows any time soon!

Teenage sailor Abby Sunderland is finally home and seemed cool, calm and collected at her first press conference June 29, since her ship, Wild Eyes, was damaged in the Indian Ocean on June 10.

The 16-year-old sat next to her 17-year-old brother, Zac, who brought her home to California from tiny Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean, where she was dropped off by her rescue ship. Her parents couldn’t be with her at the press event because mom Marianne is currently in labor with the Sunderland family’s eighth child, who will be named Paul, in honor of the French captain who saved her, Paul Louis Le Moigne.

Although Abby refused to respond to criticism that her parents shouldn’t have allowed her to embark on such a dangerous solo global journey, she did insist that she had the proper training to do so.  “I was prepared [for an accident],” she said. “I didn’t expect it to happen, but I was prepared in case it did happen and because of that, I felt comfortable out there.” In fact, she’s proud to have become the youngest person to sail solo around Cape Horn – AKA the sailor’s graveyard. “I have crossed two oceans, I have sailed around Cape Horn and Cape Agolis – the questioning of my age should have been over weeks, if not months, ago.”

Abby didn’t expect to be rescued so quickly after the mast on her sailboat broke and thought she’d be adrift for a few weeks. Although she was scared at times, she said she focused on saving herself and her boat. “I was terrified, but I knew I was going to be testing myself. There were times when I was scared, definitely, but the times you are scared you have to get over it. Being scared doesn’t do anything good, it makes you hesitate and that’s when problems begin,” she said, adding, “I am living proof that things don’t always work out the way you plan, but you can only go so far in an adventure. You can reduce risk, but you can never completely eliminate it.”

All in all, her experience WAS the adventure. She said she was raised to “chase a dream” that normal kids wouldn’t have accomplished, and contrary to popular opinion, she wanted to sail around the world even before her brother Zac (who actually accomplished his goal).  Being stuck out in the ocean on her own even gave her confidence!

But don’t expect to see that newfound confidence on your TV screen. “[There is] no reality TV show,” she claims – even though HollywoodLife.com has seen TV deal documents for Adventures in Sunderland. “There will be NO documentary”, she said, “but I might write a book. I don’t want to forget the great memories I had. I’m writing it for me… I hope I inspire people.”

As for her parents, Marianne and Lawrence, they issued a joint statement, which their publicist read out during the press conference, as follows:

“The past five months have brought many highs and lows for our family. We’ve watch our daughter achieve something great. While she didn’t quite complete what she set out to do she traveled more than 12,000 nautical miles solo and became the youngest person to sail solo around Cape Horn. Abby followed her dream and followed in the footsteps of so many other great Americans who loved life and adventure. We are immensely proud of her. We have also been exposed to intense personal criticism by people who don’t know us. Most have not even met us. To hear the intensity of the personal hatred spewed by some in the media and on blogs was shocking to us. It crossed the line of human decency. Abby should not be subjected to these hurtful attacks against members of her family especially as what was being said was based at best on twisting facts out of context and at worse on total fabricated lies. That said, we are forgiving people and are content to leave this criticism behind us and look to what the future holds. We also accept that some people simply don’t understand. They don’t know Abby and the years she has spent on sailing boats. They don’t understand her love for sailing and her to dream to sail around the globe. They were not there when we planned every detail meticulously under the guidance of experts. They did not hear the advice we accepted by those who have done this before. This advice is all about minimizing risks. They don’t know our family and the love we have for our children. A love that prevents us from ever endanging them. We say this while recognizing that with any adventure – and Abby is an adventurous spirit – there are risks. After Abby traveled over 12,000 nautical miles – more than most sailors would ever dream of sailing solo – they rode waves, stopped her mast and stopped her journey. Abby’s experience and understand coupled with the expert team guiding her from home meant she knew what to do and she responded with great. Professionalism. We are proud of her and we are thankful to all those who assisted her and helped bring her home safely. We are thankful to God for his protection. We don’t expect or even ask for everyone to agree with our decision to allow Abby to follow her dream but we do ask for others to respect our decision as parents just as we respect other parents when they make decisions for their children that we may not for ours. We support Abby and as parents we will guide her as best we can. Recognizing that parenting isn’t always easy for any of us. We stand by her in whatever she decides for her life in the future. – publicist Lyle Mercer read out family statement.

Laura Schreffler

1. BREAKING! Abby Sunderland’s Mom Is In Labor & Missed Her Daughter’s Big Press Conference!
2. BREAKING NEWS: 16-Year-Old Abby Sunderland Safe On Land And Defending Her Parents!
3. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Sailor Abby Sunderland’s Trip Was Even More Dangerous Than Has Been Revealed, HollywoodLife Has Learned.
4. EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW! Abby’s Dad, Laurence Sunderland, Swears ‘I Would Never Even Begin To Harm Any Of My Kids!’
5. EXCLUSIVE: Abby Sunderland’s Dad Was ‘Cutting Corners’ So Major TV Production Studio Reveille Backed Out Of Reality Show, Says Source!
6. Bonnie Asks! Was Abby Sunderland Brainwashed By Her Parents Into Doing Her Dangerous Stunt?

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green are married!

Do you like Kristen Stewart’s new red ‘do?

Jon vs. Kate! Who is having a mid-life crisis?

R-Patz to play animated character?

Miley is dominating Teen Choice Awards!

Follow HollywoodLife.com on | Become a fan

Abby’s parents missed her first press conference since arriving back home, but this time it wasn’t because of neglect!

Abby Sunderland‘s dad, Laurence, has been under fire for letting his 16-year-old daughter attempt to sail around the globe by herself — but today, June 29, the world’s most unpopular father missed his girl’s press conference at their home in Thousand Oaks, Calif. for a legitimate reason…his wife, Marianne, went into labor with their eighth child.

Before Abby, 16, began speaking at the conference, it was announced that her mom had gone into labor with their baby, a son they are naming Paul, after the captain of the ship who saved Abby when her sailboat capsized in the Indian Ocean. Abby has a 17-year-old brother named Zac and now six younger siblings.

Congrats, Sunderlands — pretty soon you won’t need to sail around the world for a reality show…you can just have one about your gigantic family!

Kirstin Benson

Click here for on Abby Sunderland

1. Abby Sunderland Speaks Out After Rescue: ‘I Was Scared, But I Never Thought I’d Die’!
2. BREAKING NEWS: 16-Year-Old Abby Sunderland Safe On Land And Defending Her Parents!
3. Breaking News: Sailor Abby Sunderland Finally Arriving On Land Tonight!

Megan Fox and Brian Austin Green are married!

Do you like Kristen Stewart’s new red ‘do?

Jon vs. Kate! Who is having a mid-life crisis?

R-Patz to play animated character?

Miley is dominating Teen Choice Awards!

Follow HollywoodLife.com on | Become a fan

The teen sailor is reunited with her brother following her near fatal stint at sea!

Abby Sunderland is FINALLY safe and sound and back on land after fears she was lost at sea following a June 10 storm in the Indian Ocean that forced the California teen to abandon her dream of becoming the youngest person to sail solo around the sea. The Associated Press reports that the California teen arrived on Reunion Island Saturday, June 24 where she was greeted by her 18-year-old brother Zac “who brought her a backpack with some clothes, a hairbrush (!), and a few personal belongings. She was thrilled to see some familiar faces and have met another milestone in her long voyage home.” She was also quick to defend her parents’ decision to let her participate in such a dangerous trip. “They have put up with a ton of stuff to help me follow my dream,” the young sailor said.

As for the criticism her parents have suffered, Abby stated it was “ungrounded.” She went on to say, “the past few months have been the best of my life. I was on an adventure. You can only plan so far.”

Not on hand to meet Abby were her parents as her mother is soon to give birth to an eighth child.

The teen also created speculation she would try her trip again as she said her accident, “ended my trip but it didn’t end my dream.”

R-Patz defends K-Stew rape comments! 

I’m mad my doctor talked about my boobs!

Check out Kate’s major cleavage alert!

Was their relationship a publicity stunt?

Tiger is not the baby daddy! 

Follow HollywoodLife.com on | Become a fan

HOLLYWOODLIFE.COM EXCLUSIVE: Abby Sunderland Forced To Go On Dangerous Boat Trip Or Lose Sponsor!

HollywoodLife.com has learned that 16-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland was forced to leave her home port of Marina del Rey, Calif., on Jan. 23 even though it would mean she’d be heading into the most dangerous time to sail in the Southern Hemisphere’s Indian Ocean, or else she would have lost a major sponsor. “There was a time crunch. She had to leave by Jan. 31,” reveals Ted Caloroso, the cinematographer who was working with the Sunderland family in their quest to sell a reality show.

Caloroso claims that there were problems with Abby’s boat that required her to stop for repairs in Cabo San Lucas from Feb. 2 to 6, and that it was in Cabo San Lucas that he became concerned that Abby’s father,Laurence, was “cutting corners” in dangerous ways.

“He didn’t seem to have properly estimated how much fuel she would need and he was buying extra fuel and putting it in paint drums and putting them around the boat. I told him that wasn’t safe and convinced him to get proper fuel containers,” says Caloroso.

Caloroso also says that it was because of safety issues like this that he decided to pull out of the Adventures in Sunderland reality show project that he had been working on. He also tells HollywoodLife.com that he felt that Abby’s solo sail trip was more dangerous than her older brother Zac’s, because it was non-stop (Zac’s wasn’t) and she had to go around Cape Horn on the southernmost tip of South America — known as “The Sailors Graveyard” — whereas Zac went through the Panama Canal.

“Her father Laurence wanted her to go around all five capes. I really began to fear she might die,” Caloroso told HollywoodLife.com.

Coloroso’s safety concerns convinced the highly respected TV production company, Reveille, to whom he had brought the project, to pull out as well. A source close to Reveille confirmed that they were working on the project and had received network interest for the show, but backed out of the project once they were informed by Caloroso that Abby’s trip might be unsafe.

Abby’s father Laurence claimed that he cut ties with Caloroso’s company, Magnetic Entertainment, because “they were assuming Abigail was going to die out there. They were relying on her dying, and so we cut ties.”

Caloroso is apoplectic about this claim: “It’s a lie!”

Now, Abby’s mother Marianna, has posted on Abby’s blog, “There is no reality TV show or documentary in the works and we will not be pursuing one.” However, Ted Caloroso confirmed to us that Abby had video cameras on board to do testimonials. She did do some on her voyage from Cabo San Lucas to Cape Horn and they probably still exist. Videos done after she left Cape Town, South Africa, were left on board her boat, Wild Eyes, which she abandoned.

Furthermore, we’ve learned that the Sunderland parents actively pursued movie and book deals for their son Zac, after he returned successfully from his trip. “I made intros for Laurence in Hollywood, and yes there was interest in Zac’s story from major movie producers and a top literary agent,” says a source. “But, we parted ways.”

Zac is represented by highly respected literary agent David Kuhn, in New York City, HollywoodLife.com has confirmed.

So why did both teens embark on such ambitious missions? “I feel like the kids don’t get much exposure to the outside world,” says a source who has spent a lot of time with the Sunderland family. “The family is not very well-off financially and the kids are home-schooled and stuck in the house with five younger siblings, so any opportunity to get out for a long period of time is appealing. And they have an avid interest in sailing. They’ve lived on boats and loved it.”

But was that a good enough reason for Abby to embark on a “nonstop” solo sailing trip around the globe at a time of year when she would face a higher likelihood of dangerous storms in the South Indian Ocean, then at another time of the year?

NY1 news channels Chief Meteorologist John Devitt confirmed that Abby “was rolling the dice,” by sailing in the Indian Ocean at that time.

“It was a risky decision — at the very edge of the envelope to do that because of weather concerns — but a calculated risk,” agrees George Day, owner and publisher of Blue Water Sailing magazine.

Here’s the key question once again: Was Laurence Sunderland willing to take a calculated risk on his daughter’s life in order to get a reality show, a potential movie or book deal, or any other financial gain?

He denied it to us, but we aren’t so sure.

—Bonnie Fuller

Click here to view the embedded video.

Splashnews.com

The shell-shocked Sunderland dad tells us he wishes that drama caused from reports he was exploiting his daughter would stop – and that Abby is doing well. Her brother, Zac, agrees

Laurence Sunderland is fighting back against claims that he was exploiting his teenage daughter Abby’s around-the-world trip for the purposes of a reality show. In an exclusive interview, both he and his 18-year-old son, Zac, told HollywoodLife.com that Abby is fine, their family is surviving and that Laurence would NEVER sell out his children.

“I would never even BEGIN to harm any of my kids,” Laurence told us at his Thousand Oaks, Calif. home June 15 in response to said exploitation claims, adding that the horrific things being said about him are “not at all” true.

The most important thing, says Laurence, is that his 16-year-old daughter, who was stranded in the Indian Ocean after her boat was damaged in a storm, is alive and well. “I’m just glad she’s alright,” he said, even revealing that she “doesn’t plan on another [voyage] any time soon, but she’ll be on boat again.” He refused to comment as to whether she had finally come home.

Above all, Laurence says he knows that his family will survive this scandal. “It is really weird to be ridiculed over this, but we are a strong family,” he confided, allowing that he, wife Marianne, and his other six children are getting through the drama “so far”, adding, “It’s scary, you know what I mean? I would like for this all just to be over.”

As for Adventures in Sunderland, the reality show he pitched then swore he cut ties with after coming under harsh criticism from the media ? “I can’t really talk about that with anyone,” Laurence said.

Abby’s 18-year-old brother, Zac (who, at the age of 17, became the youngest person ever to complete the same voyage Abby had attempted) agreed that his sister is doing well, telling us, “She’s fine” but dismissed the bad dad reports, including that Laurence was “cutting corners” by having his slightly less-seasoned sailor sister attempt the same trip he had taken. “My dad’s cool!” he stated.

At least Laurence has his son’s support – but he says there are others out there who believe he isn’t a bad person. “Thank you to everyone who has seen us through this,” he said. “We appreciate the supporters.”

Russ Weakland & Laura Schreffler

Did Al Gore really have an affair?

Abby’s reality show axed: Dad cutting corners?

Cameron Diaz wants sex with women!

Megan Fox is tying the knot!

Did Kristen and Rob break up?

Follow HollywoodLife.com on | Become a fan

HollywoodLife.com has learned that a major Hollywood production company, Reveille Productions, which has produced The Office, Biggest Loser, and Ugly Betty, pulled the plug on working on 16-year-old sailor Abby Sunderland‘s reality show Adventures in Sunderland , even though they had network interest, because they feared her father Laurence was “cutting corners” and were concerned about Abby’s safety.

“Reveille was working with Ted Caloroso of Magnetic Entertainment, who was filming the show, but they washed their hands of it because Ted told them that [Abby's father Laurence Sunderland] was cutting corners and that maybe Abby wasn’t as seasoned a sailor as her older brother Zac was,” says our source.

Laurence Sunderland has accused Caloroso of taking Abby’s trip and a related reality show “in an unethical direction” because Caloroso was “basing it on Abigail dying going around Cape Horn.”

Caloroso has fervently denied that he was interested in Abby’s peril and claims he pulled out of the project because he felt it was unsafe. The source close to Reveille believes that Ted is “very credible.” However, Reveille was also worried that the father tried to get Abby to set sail before a major sponsorship expired. “She was a beautiful, sweet girl,” says the source, who adds, “The family was all nice, except for the father.”

“Ted is a great guy, but the mere thought that Abby might be going out on an unsafe trip made us back out,” says the source.

Did Al Gore really have an affair?

Abby’s reality show axed: Dad cutting corners?

Cameron Diaz wants sex with women!

Megan Fox is tying the knot!

Did Kristen and Rob break up?

Follow HollywoodLife.com on | Become a fan

But sitting around on the Ile de Reunion, she’s already blogging excuses for her parents sending her out on her dangerous mission to be the youngest person ever to sail non-stop around the globe. “There are plenty of things people can think of to blame my situation; my age, the time of years and many more,” she wrote in her blog, Abby’s Blog. “The truth is, I was in a storm and you don’t sail through the Indian Ocean without getting in at least one storm. It wasn’t the time of year it was just a southern ocean storm. Storms are part of the deal when you set out to sail around the world.”

No doubt Abby feels guilty that her parents, Laurence and Marianne, have been taking heat for allowing and enabling her to set out on a 40 ft. sailboat alone, especially since her father told the New York Post that he had signed a contract to do a reality show based on her and her six young siblings’ adventures. Her father only backtracked on the upcoming reality show after being smacked by a storm of criticism that he had put Abby in danger in order to keep financial rewards.

I believe Abby’s trying to protect her parents by actually misrepresenting the facts. NY1 news channel’s chief meteorologist John Davitt confirmed to me, “This time of winter (in the southern hemisphere, where she was) is historically known as a time when it is not uncommon to run into big storms. She wasn’t being foolhardy but she was rolling the dice.” He pointed out that the chances of having good weather are greater in the summer. In the summer, there can be cyclones but you can see them days ahead and plot a course around them.”

Abby has also protectively defended her parents in a new interview given to the Associated Press.

“I think a lot of people are judging me by the standards they have for their teens,” she said. “They don’t understand that I’ve sailed my whole life and I do know what I’m doing out there.” She adds that “people don’t know me, and if they did wouldn’t be criticizing my age.”

Well, you know what, Abby — you are clearly an impressive and mature 16-year-old, but you still have a 16-year-old brain that is biologically immature. The brain is only about 80 percent developed in adolescents, according to Harvard Magazine. At age 16, it has been well documented that teenagers are primed to be more likely to take risks, overestimate short-term payoffs and underplay long-term consequences, according to a report by The Mentor Foundation, which promotes health and well-being among young people.

“Teenagers feel they are indestructable, they don’t weigh risks like adults,” points out family therapist, Dr. Jeffrey Gardere, host of VH1′s Dad Camp.

That means that while we do not know Abby personally, it’s highly likely that part of her self-confidence stems from her youthful belief in her own infallibility.

That’s exactly why parents are supposed to keep their daughters from taking risks which are just too great — not encourage them to leap in, after talking with a TV production company, to do a reality show.

I believe that like many children, Abby was raised, even brainwashed, into believing that she could do anything she set her mind to.

That form of parental brainwashing can be a positive force, when it takes the form of telling your daughter she can be a doctor.

It’s a negative force, however, when it’s used to convince your immature 16-year-old daughter to put herself in a sailboat alone in the middle of the Indian Ocean at the stormiest and most dangerous — yes, dangerous — time of the year.

— Bonnie Fuller

Click here to view the embedded video.