The child’s paternity cannot be established by DNA test because the two possible fathers are identical twins, BBC News reports.

Judge Filipe Luís Peruca, in the Brazilian state of Goiás, said the two men were attempting to frustrate the young girl’s right to know who her father is.

He said they had used their status as twins to impersonate each other in order to sleep with more women and deny cheating on their girlfriends.

The judge ordered both twins to pay child maintenance of 230 reais (around £45) a month - meaning the child will receive twice as much as others - and ruled that both of their names should appear on her birth certificate.

In his judgment, Judge Peruca wrote: “One of them is acting in bad faith in order to hide the fact that he is the father. Such vile behaviour cannot be tolerated by the law.