Princess Santiago, the woman who has filed a paternity suit against Paul Pierce, has responded after the former NBA star admitted to being the father of her 2-month-old son and asked to be granted joint custody. 

Per TMZ, Pierce, 48, informed the court that he was King Rafael Santiago Pierce’s biological father. The NBA champion is also seeking joint legal and physical custody.

But Santiago is seemingly wondering why Pierce is now seeking joint custody, saying that she went through her pregnancy “alone.”

“For nine months, I went through this pregnancy alone — no financial support, no in-person presence from Paul. Now that the DNA test confirms he’s the father, he’s seeking joint custody?” she told the entertainment news outlet. 

Pierce admitting to being the father of Santiago’s child, came after she asked a judge to order the former Boston Celtics star to pay almost $30,000 in monthly child support, Face2Face Africa previously reported.

Per TMZ, Santiago’s child support request also came after she filed a paternity lawsuit against the Boston Celtics legend in January.

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Santiago, in the court documents, claims that her newborn’s father is Pierce. Besides seeking $29,811 in monthly child support from Pierce, Santiago also wants the judge to grant her sole legal and physical custody. She additionally wants to be awarded $100,000 to cover her legal expenses.

That’s not all, as Santiago said that $18,846 was spent on “reasonable expenses” that covered her pregnancy, birth, and post-birth expenses. She is therefore asking the court to order Pierce to cover one-half of that.

Santiago indicated in the court documents that Pierce made “approximately $195 million to $203 million in total NBA salary” when he played in the NBA between 1998 and 2017, TMZ reported.

She also said that the Hall of Famer “has publicly stated that during his NBA career he made enough money from endorsements that he did not have to use his NBA salary to pay his expenses or generous expenditures on his family, romantic partners and family.”

In January, Santiago claimed in a statement that she filed for “paternity papers after multiple attempts to resolve this privately,” TMZ reported.

“Paul Pierce is the father of my son, King, and I am simply asking for a paternity test so the truth can be confirmed,” she added. “This isn’t about drama or attention — it’s about accountability and doing what’s right for my child.”

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