Footballer Cristiano Ronaldo paid a surrogate mother to have his baby, it was claimed today.
Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias said the baby was conceived by the surrogate at the end of last summer in San Diego, where Ronaldo was on holiday.
The boy was born weighing 9lb 8oz on June 17 while the star was at the World Cup in South Africa.
Diario de Noticias said Ronaldo travelled to the Algarve to meet his son as soon as Portugal were eliminated from the tournament by Spain on June 29.
It gave no further details of the claim.
Ronaldo's sister Katia Aveiro said her brother was 'very happy about becoming a father'.
Ronaldo with his sister Katia: She said her brother's baby has brown hair and eyes, just like him
The youngster is the spitting image of his famous father, with brown eyes and a shock of brown hair, his sister revealed.
Speaking at one of the family's homes in Vilamoura, on the Algarve, Katia told Diario de Noticias: 'He has brown eyes and brown hair like Cristiano.
'He's very happy, of course! Who isn't happy having children? The baby looks like him, although he's still very small to see what his features will be like.
'He's very calm, he just eats and sleeps.'
Katia said her own sons Rodrigo, nine, and four-month-old Dinis 'are very happy' with the new arrival.
She said her brother will reveal his son's name 'when he returns from Madrid', where he is said to be working.
State television channel RTP claimed the boy will be called Ronaldo Junior.
According to reports, the baby was born as the result of a fling with an American woman, who has been paid to stay anonymous.
The footballer became a father two days after playing against the Ivory Coast in the World Cup and four days before he helped Portugal beat North Korea 7-0.
He did not reveal the news to his team-mates while in South Africa.
Ronaldo made his shock revelation he had become a father on Saturday night on his official website, Facebook and Twitter pages.
He wrote: 'It is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become a father to a baby boy.
'As agreed with the baby's mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship.'
Last night, more than 18 hours after the messages first appeared and after 40,000 fans had registered their congratulations on Facebook, Ronaldo's agent confirmed the story, saying: 'Yes, it's true. We make no further comment.'
His girlfriend, Russian underwear model Irina Shayk wrote on her Facebook page: 'My boyfriend is now the father of a boy.'
Ronaldo spent last summer in the US on holiday after signing for Real Madrid from Manchester United for a world record £80million.
The baby will have been conceived around September last year when he was playing for the Spanish giants.
At that time 21-year-old Italian Raffaella Fico claimed to be dating the footballer, but the relationship was never confirmed.
Other women who have been linked to Ronaldo recently include Paris Hilton, Big Brother star Imogen Thomas and US star Kim Kardashian.
In a recent interview in Portugal the star was asked if he wanted to have children. He replied that the day might come 'sooner rather than later'.
His gruelling training regime and fixtures at Real Madrid, where he earns £180,000 a week, combined with a love of the high life, make it hard to imagine him being a single parent.
That makes it likely that the child's upbringing will have plenty of input from Ronaldo's formidable mother Dolores.
The newspaper's claim adds weight to the theory that Ronaldo had the child through a 'Ricky Martin'- style arrangement.
The Puerto Rican singer became a father to twins with help from a surrogate mother in 2008.
Only two months ago, Ronaldo was at the centre of a pregnancy riddle involving a stunning Spanish model.
Former Miss Spain Maria Jose Suarez was linked to the star after splitting with her boyfriend, tennis player Feliciano Lopez, when she discovered she was pregnant.
The footballer was named in the media as her secret lover, sparking speculation he was the father of the child.
But she denied sleeping with Ronaldo and last week it emerged she had lost her baby.
Cristiano Ronaldo becomes father after 'paying surrogate to have his baby' | Mail Online
