and watch her poetic, home video-style pregnancy film below
On encouraging a childhood with few gender stereotypes.
Emily Ratajkowski is pregnant, expecting her first child with husband Sebastian Bear-McClard. In a digital cover story published by Vogue, the 29-year-old model, actress and entrepreneur discusses her pregnancy for the first time in a personal essay, as well as a short film written and filmed by herself.
Reflecting on this new experience in life, the soon-to-be mother writes that she hopes to raise her child with as few gender-based preconceptions as possible. She explains why she doesn’t want to reveal the gender of her baby:
“When my husband and I tell friends that I’m pregnant, their first question after ‘Congratulations’ is almost always ‘Do you know what you want?’ We like to respond that we won’t know the gender until our child is 18 and that they’ll let us know then. Everyone laughs at this. There is a truth to our line, though, one that hints at possibilities that are much more complex than whatever genitalia our child might be born with: the truth that we ultimately have no idea who—rather than what—is growing inside my belly. Who will this person be? What kind of person will we become parents to?”
Ratajkowski also touches upon loneliness during pregnancy, the feeling of uncertainty that comes with becoming a new parent and finally, the excitement of eventually meeting and learning about her child. “I’m completely and undeniably helpless when it comes to almost everything surrounding my pregnancy: how my body will change, who my child will be,” she says. “But I’m surprisingly unbothered. Instead of feeling afraid, I feel a new sense of peace.”
Read Ratajkowski’s essay in full at Vogue, and watch her poetic, home video-style pregnancy film below.
