Heath LedgerHeath Ledger may have fathered a secret child when he was just 17, according to a report in an Australian newspaper.

The country’s Daily Telegraph is reporting that a woman is claiming she gave birth to a baby girl after a brief affair with the then-teenage actor. According to the newspaper, the woman, who was then 25, only found out she was pregnant after the relationship ended and never contacted Heath about the baby.

A family source told the newspaper: “She had the baby. Everyone lived under the assumption that she was the daughter of the mother’s boyfriend and that is how she has been brought up.”

The late actor’s uncle Hadyn Ledger added: “There is a very real possibility that Heath was the father.”

The woman refused to be identified but sources close to the family are worried that if the baby does turn out to be Heath’s, there may be a claim for part of his estate.

A further source added: “At the moment it looks like most of his estate will go to his daughter Matilda one way or another but this might throw a spanner in the works.”

Heath died of an accidental prescription overdose in January at the age of 28.