NICOLE Kidman is pregnant, her publicist has confirmed.
Wendy Day said in a statement that the Australian actor and her country music singer husband Keith Urban were expecting a child and were "thrilled".
Day said she learned only this morning that the Oscar-winning actress was expecting.
"I personally didn`t know, so I`m excited today, very excited," Day said.
"For years I`ve seen speculation and for years it`s never been right, so I didn`t think it was right this time. And then she`s just rung this morning."
The confirmation follows weeks of speculation and rumour, with photos showing Urban apparently hiding his wife`s baby bump and reports that Kidman, fearing a miscarriage, had dropped out of a film due to be shot in Germany.
The New York Post overnight reported that Kidman dropped plans to shoot a major new film in Germany to protect the health of her unborn child.
Kidman`s representatives last week attempted to shoot down the pregnancy reports, describing them as "gossip", but the Post quoted "extremely well-placed sources" as saying Kidman was expecting.
"Of course, everyone knows she`s pregnant and lying about it," the source told the Post.
Kidman was to begin shooting the Stephen Daldry-directed post World War II drama, The Reader, with Ralph Fiennes this month.
The Post said Kidman, who has suffered miscarriages in the past, is "so concerned about the welfare of her unborn child" that she quit the film.
The film is produced by Hollywood studio Weinstein Company and is based on Bernhard Schlink`s prize-winning book about a man who carries a long-time sexual obsession with an older woman who is later prosecuted for war crimes after it emerges she was a member of the SS and a guard at Auschwitz.
According to the Post, another source said a Vanity Fair editor was recently overheard talking about pushing up Kidman`s photo shoot for the magazine`s annual Hollywood issue.
"It`s because the costumes she`s set to wear won`t fit her much longer," the source said.
Kidman has two adopted children - Connor, 12, and Isabella, 14 - with ex-husband Tom Cruise.
She and Cruise split in 2001.
Kidman and Urban met at a G`Day LA event honouring Australians in January 2005, and married in in Sydney 18 months later.
- with AAP
