Gisele Bundchen felt a sense of "self-imposed guilt" about returning to work after having kids.
Gisele Bundchen
The 38-year-old model - who has kids Vivian, five, and Benjamin, eight, with her sports star husband Tom Brady - has admitted she felt like a "terrible mother" when she made the decision to return to work.
Gisele explained: "I had all this horrible, self-imposed guilt. I thought what a terrible mother I was for leaving my child even for like a day."
Gisele - who retired from the catwalk in 2016 - felt a similar sense of guilt when she took her children with her to work.
In her new memoir, 'Lessons: My Path to a Meaningful Life' - excerpts of which have been shared by People - she says: "I was feeling guilty for that too. Like, 'Here we are on a plane and the baby is crying.'"
In fact, the Brazilian beauty admitted to losing a bit of herself in the aftermath of becoming a parent for the first time.
She said: "When I became a mom, I kind of lost myself. It was like a part of me died.
"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."
Gisele admitted, too, that being a working mother had an impact on her marriage to Tom.
She confessed: "You're overwhelmed and tired and then you're not the nicest partner."
However, the duo were ultimately able to move past the problem with the help of each other.
She said: "When someone you love is happy, it makes you happy, or if they're sad it makes you sad. You suffer with them and you have joy with them."
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