Baby on the way for Tom and Katie

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LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- Tom Cruise and fiancee Katie Holmes are expecting a baby six months into a whirlwind romance that has turned the once intensely private Cruise into a giddy and very public lover.

News of the pregnancy was first reported by People magazine Wednesday. A statement from Cruise's publicist, his sister Lee Anne DeVette, added: "Tom and Katie are very excited, and the entire family is very excited." Holmes, she said, "has never felt better."

No wedding date for the couple has been set and no details about the sex of the baby or the due date were available. The child would be Cruise's first biological child. He adopted two children with actress Nicole Kidman before their marriage ended in divorce in 2001.

Twice married Cruise, 43, and Holmes, 27, began dating in mid-April but far from keeping their relationship low key, Cruise became the butt of jokes in May after he jumped over a couch in a manic appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" and declared his passion for his new girlfriend.

He proposed to Holmes in June at the Eiffel Tower in Paris and announced their engagement the next day at a news conference.

The high jinks prompted suspicion that their relationship was a publicity stunt to promote their summer films -- "War of the Worlds" for Cruise and "Batman Begins" for Holmes.

Cruise rejected the jibes. "It's amusing at first. It's funny. But then you sit back and realize how sad it is that there are people who can't even imagine feeling like this. But my friends are happy for me. The people who know me are happy. My mom is happy. My family is happy," he said.

Holmes made her name in the TV show "Dawson's Creek". She ended a five-year relationship with "American Pie" actor Chris Klein in early 2005.

Cruise's first marriage, to actress Mimi Rogers, ended in divorce in 1990. After his divorce from Nicole Kidman, he had a two-year relationship with Spanish actress Penelope Cruz.

Cruise is currently filming the action movie "Mission: Impossible III," in Los Angeles.