Cristiano Ronaldo before Georgina: Irina Shayk, five children and a private life

Dubai: He has never been married before. Tuesday's civil ceremony in Cascais was his first, at 41, after a decade with Georgina Rodríguez and five children.

The relationship before Georgina

Irina Shayk, the Russian model, was his longest publicly acknowledged partner before Rodríguez.

They were together from 2010 until January 2015, roughly five years, and were among the most visible couples in European sport during that period. Shayk has since had a daughter, Lea, with the actor Bradley Cooper.

The split, when it came, was reported as amicable and neither has said much about it publicly since.

Ronaldo met Rodríguez in 2016, in a Gucci store in Madrid where she was working as a sales assistant. They went public in January 2017 at the Best FIFA Football Awards, with his eldest son alongside them.

The children

Five, and the circumstances of the first three are the part he has never explained.

Cristiano Jr, 16: born June 2010 in San Diego. Mother never publicly identified.

Eva Maria and Mateo, nine: born 8 June 2017, also in the United States, via surrogate. Mother never publicly identified.

Alana Martina, eight: born 12 November 2017, his first child with Rodríguez.

Bella Esmeralda, four: born April 2022, his second with Rodríguez.

The couple's family also includes a sixth child who did not survive. Bella Esmeralda was born a twin, and her brother Ángel died at birth. Ronaldo and Rodríguez announced it publicly at the time and have spoken about it since.

Cristiano Jr was born in June 2010, while Ronaldo was in a relationship with Shayk.

His statement at the time was carefully worded and has not been added to in sixteen years.

"It is with great joy and emotion that I inform I have recently become father to a baby boy," he said. "As agreed with the baby's mother, who prefers to have her identity kept confidential, my son will be under my exclusive guardianship."

Speculation has run continuously since. Asked about it on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2015, Ronaldo acknowledged the rumours without engaging with them.

"People speculate I was with this girl or another, or there was a surrogate mother," he said.

He has been clear about why he says nothing. "Some points in life are private and people have to respect the privacy."

He has indicated he intends to tell his son the full story privately, and has no plans to share it beyond that.

The twins

Eva Maria and Mateo arrived on 8 June 2017, about seven months into his relationship with Rodríguez.

Portuguese media reported the births first, and Ronaldo confirmed them after Portugal's exit from the Confederations Cup, having stayed with the national squad through the tournament. The Portuguese Football Federation publicly praised him for it.

Surrogacy was widely reported. The Daily Mail said it had reviewed court documents in La Mesa, near San Diego, stating the twins were conceived in a laboratory and born to a surrogate.

Ronaldo has never named her, and his representatives said at the time he would not be discussing why he chose that route.

He posted a photograph a few weeks later. "So happy to be able to hold the two new loves of my life."

How Georgina became mother to all five

She arrived in 2016, when Cristiano Jr was six, and the twins came seven months into the relationship. Alana followed five months after them.

Rodríguez has spoken about the arrangement more openly than he has, describing motherhood as her priority and referring to all five as her children rather than distinguishing between them.

"Being a mother is the best thing that's ever happened to me and my absolute priority," she told Vogue Mexico in 2024. "Every moment I spend with my family is when I'm happiest and most realised."

The Netflix series I Am Georgina, which began in 2022, documented much of that family life.

And now

All five children were at the ceremony in Cascais on Tuesday. They were, as far as anyone can tell, the entire guest list.