Patrick Kennedy and Wife Amy Welcome Fifth Child, Son Marshall

Patrick Kennedy and wife Amy are already parents to Harper, 10, Owen, 6, Nora, 4, and Nell, 2

Published on May 31, 2018 06:54 PM

Former U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy and his wife Amy are now parents of five!

The couple welcomed son Marshall Patrick Kennedy on May 27 at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in Pomona, New Jersey. The newborn measured 19¾ inches and weighed 7 lbs., 4.2 oz., at birth.

Marshall joins siblings Harper, 10, Owen, 6, Nora, 4, and Nell, 2.

And when the new parents left the hospital on May 29 it was the same day as a special family occasion — what would have been Patrick’s uncle, President John F. Kennedy’s 101st birthday. Also, Marshall was born two weeks before the 50th anniversary of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination on June 6.

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“As we reflect on the tragedies of the past, Amy and I are hopeful that this child will know a more compassionate, connected world – one my aunts, uncles, and father fought for every day,” said Patrick, son of late Senator Ted Kennedy.

Not only does the baby boy carry on the iconic Kennedy name, his first name also has a nod to American history.

Marshall’s name was inspired by General George C. Marshall and Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.

“I want him to be a citizen of the world like Secretary of State George Marshall and a proponent of our common humanity like civil rights leader, Thurgood Marshall,” the proud dad, 50, explained.

In his memoir, Patrick spoke of his father Ted’s grief following the assassinations of JFK and RFK, his mother Joan’s alcoholism and the “code of silence” that bound him to secrecy, a fate, he said, he does not want for his own children.

“I will make sure I talk about it with my kids,” Patrick said in a 2015 interview with PEOPLE. “I want them to get what I didn’t get – and that is early intervention. Hopefully, by the time my kids are grown up a little more, we’ll be able to turn this ship of the Titanic away from continuing to hit the iceberg.”