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Emily Ratajkowski announces pregnancy and plans to keep baby's gender under wraps until they turn 18

Watch: Emily Ratajkowski reveals she is pregnant!

Model Emily Ratajkowski has announced she is expecting her first child – who she said will reveal their own gender when they turn 18.

The 29-year-old American – who married movie producer Sebastian Bear-McClard in February 2018 – announced her pregnancy by posing for the cover of digital Vogue, and discussed her plans for raising her child gender-fluid.

Photo by: KGC-11/STAR MAX/IPx 2020 10/26/20 Emily Ratajkowski and husband Sebastian Bear-McClard are expecting their 1st child. STAR MAX File Photo: 2/28/16 Emily Ratajkowski at The 2016 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. (Beverly Hills, CA)
Emily Ratajkowski is pregnant and plans to raise her child gender-fluid. (AP)

Ratajkowski wrote an essay on gender for the fashion magazine, saying: “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?’

Read more: Emily Ratajkowski's fans react to her new blonde hair: 'Obsessed with your new look'

“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.

Emily Ratajkowski married Sebastian Bear-McClard in 2018. (AP)
Emily Ratajkowski married Sebastian Bear-McClard in 2018. (AP)

“The truth that we ultimately have no idea who – rather than what – is growing inside my belly.”

She concluded: “I don’t like that we force gender-based preconceptions onto people, let alone babies.

“I want to be a parent who allows my child to show themself to me.

“And yet I realise that while I may hope my child can determine their own place in the world, they will, no matter what, be faced with the undeniable constraints and constructions of gender before they can speak or, hell, even be born.”

Read more: Emily Ratajkowski: I was a 'victim of my image’

The actress – who made her film debut in Gone Girl – also shared a clip of herself posing in the nude to show off her growing baby bump.

She captioned the cover photo: “Grateful & growing.”

Singer Paloma Faith previously announced she was raising her child gender-neutral in 2018.

But she later said she had been misunderstood after revealing she had a daughter.

She said: “I was misunderstood – the media reported that I wasn’t dictating gender stereotypes.

"True, I don’t encourage gender rigidity with toys, but really, I was traumatised by the birth and protective of our privacy.

"I wanted her to develop into herself before the world decided who she was. I felt like a lioness. She makes me look at the world in a way I’ve neglected for a long time.”

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