One of Portugal's most respected surgeons has attacked Cristiano Ronaldo and his mother over the footballer's 'degrading' decision to have surrogate children.
Gentil Martins described the Real Madrid star as a great athlete but said having twins with a surrogate mother disqualified him as a role model.
Eva and Mateo were born in the US last month before being taken to Madrid in Spain to live with the footballer.
But now Dr Martins has accused Cristiano's mother Dolores Aveiro, who joined her son on a family holiday in Ibiza last week, of failing to give him a proper education.
The comments from the veteran surgeon, 87, who is a pioneer in the separation of conjoined twins, were made during an interview with Portuguese newspaper Expresso.
Asked what he thought about the idea of an unmarried man like Ronaldo having children using a surrogate mother, he said: 'I consider it to be a serious crime. It's degrading and sad.
'Ronaldo is an excellent athlete, he has tremendous merit but it's moral stupor. He cannot be an example to anyone.'
Hitting out at Dolores Aveiro, he added: 'Everyone has the right to have a mother.
'I think one of the main people to blame for this situation is Cristiano's mum. That woman didn't give her son any education whatsoever.'
His controversial comments, fuelled by further claims in the interview that he believed homosexuality was an 'anomaly', led to an immediate backlash from other doctors.
At least two female medics have said they will lodge a formal complaint over his comments about same-sex relationships.
The Portuguese Medical Association confirmed it was opening an inquiry over his comments on homosexuality, with its president Miguel Guimaraes describing the association's former leader as a 'special person'.
Cristiano's month-old twins Eva and Mateo were reported to have been conceived in a US laboratory and born to a surrogate mum.
The surrogate's name is said to have been left blank on both birth certificates in which Ronaldo is named as the father with his full name Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro.
The documents, which were obtained by a UK newspaper earlier this month, show that the twins were delivered by a California-based obstetrician named as Dr Maria Castillo at the Sharp Grossmont Hospital near San Diego.
Mystery surrounds the birth of Cristiano's eldest son Cristiano Jr. with the footballer's family always refusing to discuss whether the youngster was born to a surrogate mother - despite allegations by a former nanny.
The footballer has also faced claims that he is secretly gay after photos emerged of him intimately relaxing with his Moroccan kickboxing friend Badr Hari appeared in 2015.
French TV pundit Daniel Riolo reacted to the pictures at the time by speculating that his regular trips to Morocco might be affecting his performance on the pitch.
He said: 'I'm sure flying off to Morocco three or four times a week to see a friend and cuddle with him might have an impact on his performances eventually.'
Mr Martins' controversial comments about Cristiano, whose girlfriend Georgina Rodriguez is rumoured to be pregnant, were made at the start of the interview and have caused shockwaves across Portugal.
One, anglicising the surgeon's first name, wrote on Twitter: 'Gentil Martins…the name Genteel is an irony, isn't it?'
Another jokingly added: 'Not so Genteel Martins.'
