The boy and girl, delivered in a Long Island, New York, hospital, were the first for the 38-year-old actress and singer, whose efforts to become pregnant have filled tabloid pages in the past few years. Anthony, a 39-year-old salsa singer, has a daughter and two sons from two previous relationships.

Lopez did not confirm her much-rumoured pregnancy until early November, when she announced the news to a Miami audience while on a concert tour with her husband.

The trade publication Advertising Age reported earlier this week that People magazine was poised to pay the couple between $4 million and $6 million for exclusive US rights to the first photos of the twins.