NEW YORK: Hollywood sex icon Jennifer Lopez is so desperate to have a baby that she has begun praying to a statue of the Virgin Mary asking to be blessed with pregnancy.

The curvy beauty, who split from actor Ben Affleck and recently married singer Marc Antony, has placed a 17-inch figure of Our Lady of Guadalupe in a shrine at her Long Island home.

The statue is a Mexican rendering of the Virgin Mary. A report said that Lopez routinely lights a candle and prays to the deity.

“Praying to the saint was her mom’s idea,” a source was quoted as saying. “A year ago, Jen would have said, ‘No way.’ She’s desperate and is praying for a miracle.” — IANS