Heidi Klum details heartbreaking moment when she was told she 'was not sexy anymore' while pregnant

Heidi Klum is opening up about the discrimination she faced in the fashion world throughout her pregnancies.

The 52-year-old German supermodel, a mom of four, shares Leni, 21, with Flavio Briatore, and Henry, 20, Johan, 19, and Lou, 16, with ex-husband Seal.

She posed with her daughter Leni and son Henry for a Paper magazine spread with an accompanying interview in February.

Klum shared, 'I remember I had one client. When I was pregnant, they did not want to work with me anymore. They thought that I was not sexy anymore, because I was now a mother. 

'I was defined before children as being a sexy woman, and now with a child, as being a mom.'

She elaborated, 'That I no longer deserved to have that... that title. That could not be part of me any longer.'

She also recalled hosting Project Runway and facing challenges while growing her family.

The blonde beauty remembered struggling to find maternity-wear while on the fashion series from 2004-2017: 'I have to say – because my kids are here right now too – you didn't see a lot of pregnant women on television. It was a big thing at the time.

'I was pregnant with all my kids always on the show, and it was a challenge for me, because pregnancy clothes were really hard to find at the time.'

She explained, 'So that's why I started having a pregnancy line because of that, because it's like, what am I gonna wear? I'm not hiding in the house pregnant.

'I'm on the stage, I'm on TV, and it's a show about fashion, I need to have good things!'

Leni, who's followed in her mom's footsteps as a model, reflected on how the industry has evolved.

'I think there’s definitely been a major shift,' she said. 

'Before, with my mom's generation, it was a stricter kind of criteria you needed to fit into, and I think a lot has changed now, and it's given many different people an opportunity to be in the industry. So there's definitely been a huge shift.'

Klum was married to Seal, 63, from 2005 until 2014 and is now married to Tokio Hotel music artist Tom Kaulitz, 36. 

In a 2025 cover story with Elle Germany, Henry shared how his mother 'instilled a lot of confidence in him' as he's pursued a career in modeling.

He told the magazine that prior to his fashion ambitions he would spend hours 'hunched over his computer' playing video games.

Klum's son said the main piece of modeling advice he was given by his mom was 'to pay attention to my posture.'

The rising star added, 'But my mother also instilled a lot in me regarding self-confidence.'

His famous mom chimed in: 'I'm a positive person. I believe you can work on your attitude towards yourself and life. Sure, I sometimes doubt myself and don't like myself. But I know how to get back to positive energy.'