Ted Kennedy's secret child.

But he paid the woman and had the scandal covered up — the child has been kept a secret for a staggering 21 years.

Several months before his divorce was finalized from first wife Joan in December 1983, sources say Ted, then 51, started dating Caroline Bilodeau, an attractive brunette from Cape Cod.

The love child, named Christopher, was born in December 1984. Adopted by a man Caroline later married, he is now a handsome college student.

According to the sources, Ted was not happy when he learned Caroline was pregnant and asked her at the time to have an abortion, which she refused.

Sources say the woman was paid at least $15,000 "from someone in the Kennedy camp," said a Bilodeau family source. . . . . .Full Story