Model mother! Gisele Bündchen is one of the most famous women in the world, but to her children, she’s just mom.
The supermodel shares son Benjamin (born in 2009) and daughter Vivian (born in 2012) with ex-husband Tom Brady. She is also the stepmother of Jack (born in 2007), whom the NFL star shares with ex Bridget Moynahan. In October 2024, it was reported that she was expecting her third child with boyfriend Joaquim Valente, their first together.
While fans know the Brazil native as a fashion icon, her kids don’t totally understand what she does for a living. When she brought Vivian to a shoot, her daughter was perplexed by the entire situation.
“She saw me with all these different hairdos and makeup — she didn’t understand why,” Bündchen told Elle in September 2022. “She’s like, ‘Mommy, you look so much prettier without all that! Why are they touching you? Can they stop?’”
In December 2013, the former Victoria’s Secret Angel famously posted a photo of herself breastfeeding Vivian while having her hair and makeup done on set, but she’s been open about the fact that motherhood isn’t always so glamorous.
“When I became a mom, I kind of lost myself. It was like a part of me died,” the frequent cover girl wrote in her 2018 memoir, Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life. “I’d been this very independent person. It was all about me. But now I had this little being, and I suddenly felt l couldn’t do other things and that was very hard for me. All I ever wanted was to be a mom, but when you’re actually experiencing that, it’s a shock.”
The philanthropist added that juggling parenthood with a career and a relationship can be hard at times. “You’re overwhelmed and tired and then you’re not the nicest partner,” Bündchen explained.
The environmental activist and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback weathered the storm for four more years, but in October 2022, they called it quits after nearly 14 years of marriage. “With much gratitude for our time together, Tom and I have amicably finalized our divorce,” Bündchen wrote via Instagram at the time. “The decision to end a marriage is never easy but we have grown apart and while it is, of course, difficult to go through something like this, I feel blessed for the time we had together and only wish the best for Tom always.”
The Devil Wears Prada actress added that she would always put the duo’s kids first, no matter what. “My priority has always been and will continue to be our children whom I love with all my heart,” she wrote. “We will continue coparenting to give them the love, care and attention they greatly deserve.”
Keep scrolling for more of Bündchen’s quotes about motherhood.
