Actor Eddie Redmayne's wife has decided the couple will wait to find out the sex of its baby.

The Danish Girl star, who discovered he had become a first-time uncle hours before the Oscars on Sunday (28Feb16), told reporters on the red carpet he was "terrified" about the prospect of fatherhood.

And it appears he'll have to wait to find out whether he and wife Hannah are expecting a boy or a girl.

"It's gonna be a surprise," he told Extra. "I'm going to be honest. I was like, 'Maybe we should find out' (and) my wife's like, ‘We're not finding out'. She wears the trousers."

Eddie, who was nominated for a Best Actor Oscar for a second year running but lost to Leonardo DiCaprio this time around, admits he is glad he listened to his wife, calling the sex of his child "one of the great surprises that still exists in the world".

He also told Extra he and Hannah are waiting to read up on childbirth and parenting after starting a library of self-help books: "We just got our first book or two, and they are just staring at us guiltily that we should be learning how to be parents (sic)," he laughed, "but we haven’t opened them yet."

The Brit became Uncle Eddie just hours before hitting the Oscars red carpet when his brother James and his wife Emma became parents in Hong Kong.

"There is a new Redmayne in the world!" he told reporters.

Eddie and Hannah wed just before the Oscars last year (15) and confirmed their own exciting baby news at the Golden Globe Awards in January (16), when the glowing mother-to-be debuted her baby bump.