Ronaldo posts first picture holding his twins

Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo has posted the first picture of him holding his newborn twins, which were born to a surrogate mother in the United States.

Cristiano Ronaldo has become a father of three Source: Getty Images

Ronaldo, whose first son, Cristiano Ronaldo Jr, turned seven earlier this month, confirmed he had become a father of three on Thursday (AEST) after Portugal were eliminated from the FIFA Confederations Cup.

The star forward, who is used to scoring hat-tricks on the pitch and now has a memorable one of his own off it, referred to his newborn twins as the "new loves of my life".

In his Facebook post, Ronaldo used the Portuguese word "filhos", which can mean either "sons" or "children" depending on context.

However, according to Portuguese daily Correio da Manha, the twins are a boy and girl and named Mateo and Eva.

The 32-year-old has been given permission to miss Portugal's third place play-off with Mexico on Sunday night (AEST) to be with the new additions to his family.

"I was in the service of the national team, as always, body and soul, even though my two children were born," he wrote on Facebook.

"Unfortunately, we have not been able to achieve the main sporting objective that we wanted, but I am sure we will continue to give joy to the Portuguese.

"The president of the Portuguese Football Federation and the national team have today had an attitude that has touched me and I will not forget.

"I'm very happy to finally be with my children for the first time." 

Meanwhile, there is widespread speculation that Ronaldo could be expecting another baby with his current girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez, 22, thought to be five months pregnant, according to The Sun.

Social media went into overdrive last month when a picture surfaced of Rodriguez appearing to show off a baby bump while the pair were on holiday in the Mediterranean island of Corsica.