In this April 13, 2008 file photo Hong Kong's actor Andy Lau Tak Wah holds his trophy for the Best Supporting Actor for his movie "Protege" at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards in Hong Kong. THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Vincent Yu, File

HONG KONG - Hong Kong actor-singer Andy Lau says he quietly got married but did not announce it because he wanted to protect his wife while they tried to have a baby.

Lau said in a brief message on his official Web site late Saturday that he and his girlfriend married in the U.S. because they want to have a child by artificial insemination - a procedure authorized only for married couples in Hong Kong.

"I was afraid that if I announced the marriage, she would be stalked by reporters, so I made a selfish decision. I thought if things go well, I would tell everyone when the baby is stable, but instead I made things more complicated," he said.

He did not give more details on their efforts to have a child.

Lau did not identify his girlfriend, but public marriage records made available online by the Clark County Recorder's Office in Nevada show that Lau and Carol Chu wed on June 24, 2008. The records were first reported Saturday by Hong Kong's Apple Daily newspaper.

Calls to Lau's publicists Sunday went unanswered.

Speculation about Lau's personal life has dominated the entertainment pages in Chinese-language newspapers after he was spotted in Hong Kong's international airport Tuesday with Chu, a former beauty pageant contestant from Malaysia.

Entertainment reporters had staked out the funeral of Chu's father in Kuala Lumpur and mobbed Lau and Chu when they returned to Hong Kong.

The 47-year-old star of films like "Infernal Affairs" and "House of Flying Daggers" has appeared in more than 100 movies since his debut in 1982 and is one of Asia's biggest celebrities.