It looks like the rumor that Portuguese soccer stud Cristiano Ronaldo used a surrogate mother is true.
The superstar — who was recently featured nearly naked on the cover of Vanity Fair — revealed on Twitter over the weekend that he’s a father to a baby boy who will be under his “exclusive guardianship.”
According to sources, the mother of the child, who Ronaldo said “prefers to have her identity kept confidential,” recently gave birth to the boy in New York. Ronaldo arrived over the weekend after Portugal was eliminated in the World Cup.
Ronaldo is planning to raise his son in Spain, where he plays for Real Madrid. His sister, Katia Aveiro, told a Portuguese newspaper that the baby, weighing 9 pounds, 8 ounces, is the spitting image of his brown-eyed, dark-haired daddy. Ronaldo was said to have planned to have the child with the mystery woman months before he met his current girlfriend, Russian model Irina Shayk.
The handsome athlete wants a baby, said a source close to him, because he “has millions, has a great career, but he didn’t have a child.” Ronaldo, who lost his father five years ago, is close with his mother, Dolores Aveiro, who sources say will likely take care of the boy with him.
Despite the bombshell, Shayk and Ronaldo have been inseparable since he landed in New York on Friday. Yesterday, they were spotted shopping on Madison Avenue before Ronaldo returned to his hotel to watch the Netherlands beat Uruguay, 3-2 in the World Cup semifinals.
Shayk remains supportive of him but has no comment, according to her rep. Postings on her Facebook fan page earlier this week claiming she was “devastated” were fraudulent, added the rep.
“It seems Irina is still rolling with it. It’s a hard thing to stomach because every day you read something new about the situation,” said the source close to Ronaldo. His rep didn’t get back to us.