(AP) LOS ANGELES - Mel Gibson and his girlfriend are welcoming the birth of the couple’s first child _ making the Oscar-winner a father for the eighth time.

Gibson’s publicist Alan Nierob said Monday that Oksana Grigorieva gave birth to a baby girl named Lucia on Friday at a hospital in Los Angeles.

No further details were available.

The 53-year-old "Braveheart" star has seven children with his ex-wife, Robyn. She cited irreconcilable differences in her April divorce petition to end their marriage of 28 years.

Grigorieva is a 39-year-old Russian musician. She and Gibson met while filming "Edge of Reason." Gibson is currently filming "The Beaver," directed by Jodie Foster.