What Happened To Leo's Real Dad On General Hospital?
The "General Hospital" Quartermaines just celebrated the adoption of little Leo (Easton Rocket Sweda), the son of Ned Quartermaine's (Wally Kurth) wife, Olivia Quartermaine (Lisa LoCicero). Ned has been helping Olivia raise Leo since he was born. Just a few months prior, Ned began suspecting that Leo might be on the autism spectrum and worked to convince Olivia to get him evaluated, diagnosed, and then treated. Olivia was so grateful for Ned's persistence in getting Leo the help he needed that she suggested he officially become Leo's father (via Soap Hub).
When Olivia was first pregnant with Leo, Ned even pretended to be her little one's dad as she did not want his real father, a dangerous mobster, involved in his life. However, the truth came out the night Olivia went into premature labor at the Nurses' Ball (via Soaps In Depth) and Julian Jerome (William deVry) learned his one-night stand with Olivia resulted in her new son. That doesn't mean that it was smooth sailing from there as Julian's tenure as Leo's dad was cut short twice. The first time was almost before it even began.
Olivia hid Leo from Julian
When Leo was first born, Olivia Falconeri was determined to make sure that Julian Jerome never got a chance to raise him. She feared his mobster lifestyle, so she told Julian that their premature baby didn't survive. At the same time, Ned Quartermaine whisked him out of town to be taken care of back in Olivia's native Brooklyn. Olivia soon joined her baby and a few months later arrived back in Port Charles claiming she adopted the little boy she brought back with her (via Soaps In Depth).
By then, Julian had decided he was going to try life outside the mob because he never wanted another child to be hidden from him again. He also wanted to keep his adult children safe. It didn't take long for him to figure out that the baby Olivia claimed she adopted was really his son and Olivia finally agreed to a visitation and custody arrangement, which the co-parents settled into for a few years (via Soap Central). Little did Olivia know how Julian was sucked back into criminal life several times before everything blew up in his face.
Julian's life fell apart at the seams
Julian's slow descent back into a criminal lifestyle came from frequently being in the wrong place at the wrong time, as well as a crazed sister, also named Olivia, who blackmailed Julian into doing all sorts of illegal things for a while. The push back into the mob was accelerated at the end of 2020 when new mobster in town, Cyrus Renault (Jeff Kober), blackmailed him into blowing up The Floating Rib restaurant. This resulted in several deaths while putting Lulu Falconeri (Emme Rylan) in a coma (via Soap Central).
As Julian tried to escape the law, he also had to escape Sonny Corinthos (Maurice Benard), who wanted him to turn on Cyrus so Sonny could bring him down. Sonny ended up following Julian to a footbridge in New Jersey after Cyrus' goons already shot him. The footbridge gave out and Sonny and Julian both plunged into the river, with Julian's dead body washing up few days later, leaving Leo without his father (via Soaps In Depth).
Olivia decided it's time to move on
When Olivia and Ned Quartermaine decided that Ned would officially adopt Leo, Olivia didn't want the boy's Jerome side of the family to be forgotten. So, she sat down and had a talk with Julian Jerome's sister, Ava Jerome. She assured Ava that she'd never let Leo forget who his biological father was and Ava was pleased (via Soap Central).
Actress Lisa LoCicero thought it was time for Ned to become Leo's father after he helped raise him. Ned truly solidified his place as Leo's parent after he advocated for autism treatment the night Leo disappeared from Ava's art gallery and Ned knew exactly where to track him down.
"When Leo went missing after he left Ava's gallery, Ned's attention and devotion and presence were the things that made it all okay," LoCicero told Soap Hub. "He proved [his love] through actions. Words don't mean anything. People can say a lot of stuff, but what do they do? How do they show up for you? He really showed who he is on a deep level by caring about what was most important."