07:13 PM EDT
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Latin pop star Ricky Martin on Monday announced he was gay in a blog posting, ending years of speculation.
"I am proud to say that I am a fortunate homosexual man," Martin wrote in a blog posting at http://www.rickymartinmusic.com/.
"This is just what I need especially now that I am the father of two beautiful boys that are so full of light and who with their outlook teach me new things every day. To keep living as I did up until today would be to indirectly diminish the glow that my kids were born with," Martin wrote.
Martin, 38, became a father to twin sons via a surrogate in 2008 and at the time no details were given about the birth or the mother.
The Puerto Rican singer of hits such as "Livin' la Vida Loca," has long been the subject of speculation about his sexuality. In 2000, TV journalist Barbara Walters grilled him about whether he was gay, but he refused to disclose it.
In his posting on Monday, Martin said a few months ago he had decided to write a memoir and doing so brought him closer to what he called "an amazing turning point in my life."
"Writing this account of my life, I got very close to my truth. And this is something worth celebrating," he wrote.
The singer began his career with boy band Menudo and broke out as a solo artist and teen idol in the 1990s in Spanish-speaking countries.
He released his first, English-language album in 1999, the self-titled "Ricky Martin," which saw two major hits, "Livin' la Vida Loca" and "She's All I Ever Had." Since then, Martin has been a star in both North America and South America.
Jarrett Barrios, the president of the U.S.-based Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), welcomed what he called Martin's "openness and honesty."
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Good for Ricky! I hope his mother is as proud of him as I am of you! I need to listen to some of his music. Love Mom
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