Dressed As ‘The Joker,’ Tennessee Doctor Delivers Halloween Baby

PARIS, TN — Oaklyn Selph will have a classic story to tell on her birthday in years to come. Born on Halloween at a Paris, Tennessee, hospital, she was delivered by a doctor dressed as “The Joker,” the super-villain in the “Batman" movie "The Dark Knight."

Oaklyn is the third child of Justin and Brittany Selph, of Waverly, Tennessee. They insisted their obstetrician, Dr. Paul Locus, remain in his costume for the delivery, according to media reports. He wore a green wig, white face paint and lipstick slapped on to form crooked smile that gave him a crazed, demented look.

Oaklyn made her arrival a few days ahead of schedule. She wasn’t due to be born until Nov. 5, but her mom woke up Halloween morning with signs of labor. The Selphs went to Henry County Medical Center in Paris, located about 120 miles northeast of Nashville, around noon on Halloween and found Locus in his costume.

“We found it very humorous and a little excited that we would have a baby delivered by The Joker,” Justin Selph told People magazine. Locus told the expectant parents he was going home to hand out candy to trick-or-treaters but would change into scrubs before delivering the baby.

"But I told him, if he came back in it, it's OK," Brittany Selph told ABC News of the physician's costume. "That'd be a pretty cool story to tell,"

And so he returned in his "Joker" garb — the Heath Ledger version of Batman’s diabolical nemesis in “The Dark Knight” — but exhibited none of The Joker’s wicked behavior. Oaklyn entered the world at 8:20 p.m. on Halloween.

The Halloween jokes continued the next day when Locus checked on the new mom, saying, “Sorry I couldn’t make it last night, glad to see the delivery went well,” Justin Selph told ABC, adding the doctor signed a congratulatory card “Dr. Joker.”

Photo of “The Joker” as portrayed by Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight” by Paul Kane/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images