ER - VISNJIC ADMITS PATERNITY IN COURT BATTLE

VISNJIC ADMITS PATERNITY IN COURT BATTLE

LATEST: ER heartthrob GORAN VISNJIC has confirmed he is the father of a baby girl after the child's mother filed a claim for child support in his native Croatia. The actor - who plays Doctor Luke Kovac in the U.S. medical drama - previously claimed he remembered nothing about his affair with Mirela Rupic in the summer of 2006 because he was jetlagged and drunk. But Rupic, who is from the star's hometown of Sibenik, Croatia, insists he knew about the pregnancy and had been paying her $1,000 (GBP500) a month until July (07) and claims she only launched the lawsuit when the payments stopped. Rupic demanded the 35-year-old take a DNA test to establish the child's paternity, but her lawyer now claims Visnjic confirmed his parentage of five-month-old Lana Lourdes without taking the test. And Rupic is delighted by the news. She says, "When I learned that he admitted the child I started to cry. It proves that he is a great man." Visnjic wed sculptor Ivana Vrdoljak in 1999 and the couple adopted a baby boy earlier this year (Apr07). He could now face paying Rupic up to $2,000 (GBP1,000) a month in child support. A tribunal has been scheduled for later this month (Nov07) to decide the amount Visnjic is obliged to pay out.