The below is a preview of our May cover story with Jennifer Hawkins. Read the full interview and see the shoot in our new issue, on sale Thursday April 2.
Resplendent in a rose-pink Prada gown, Jennifer Hawkins is working the camera. For the model – who shot to stardom as Miss Universe in 2004, going on to become the face of Myer, the host of Australia’s Next Model and now a successful entrepreneur – today is a particularly special shoot: the first with her baby girl, Frankie. She holds the five-month-old close to her chest, then lifts her lovingly to the ceiling, gazing into her eyes.
After experiencing a miscarriage and then being diagnosed with Stage 4 endometriosis, Hawkins says she feels “overwhelming gratitude” every time she looks at Frankie. “There were moments when I honestly thought that I might not be able to have a baby,” she shares. “It was really difficult to even think that and I was scared to say it out loud.”
Her two-year struggle to conceive, she says, was a period of immense personal growth. Now she’s in state of bliss and cherishing every day with Frankie. “It’s the best thing I’ve ever done. I feel more content than I’ve ever been,” says Hawkins. “There’s so much love flowing through my body.”
Love: it’s exactly what we all need right now (not to mention compassion, kindness and some of those baby cuddles!). Hawkins agrees: “I want Frankie to have a strong voice and be her own grounded woman, but I also want to teach her to be humble and kind along the way, because you feel better when you treat people better.”
Read more in the May issue of marie claire, out Thursday April 2.
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