Model Hunter McGrady: I shot the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue 6 months after giving birth. Here's what it taught me about my body.

• Hunter McGrady is a model and mom of one.
• She wasn't planning on modeling right after giving birth, but then the editor of SI Swimsuit called.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Hunter McGrady. It has been edited for length and clarity.

If anyone had asked me while I was pregnant if I would be modeling within the first six months postpartum, I would have laughed. First-time motherhood is a massive transition — physically, mentally, and emotionally. You have to remeet yourself after you give birth.

But when the editor in chief of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue called and asked if I was interested in being featured, I knew I wanted to do it — not only for me but for other women who feel that their body has changed after giving birth.

I shot the issue six months after giving birth to my son, Hudson, who is now 10 months old. As I was on location in Belize, I knew that I was making a statement. I thought about all the moms who become bystanders in life because they're insecure about the way they look; the moms who don't put on a swimsuit and play in the water with their kids. I was standing up against bounce-back culture, which can be so toxic.

My body, through my son's eyes

As a size 16 model, I'm used to standing out. I've learned to love my curves and no longer starve myself to meet an artificial beauty standard. Still, being a mom has left me more in touch with my body than ever.

When I look at Hudson, I see his beautiful skin. More importantly, I see his confidence. He looks in the mirror, and he loves himself. One day, watching him love on his reflection, I realized that I felt that way at one point, too.

When was I told differently? When did I get the message that my body was something to judge or change? Because we've all been how Hunter is: loving our bodies with reckless abandon until someone told us differently.

I'm determined to love my body so that Hunter can continue to love his.

I refuse to hide my stretch marks, in person or in print

In my SI photos, I'm my authentic self, scars and all. The ones I get asked about the most often are my stretch marks. We associate stretch marks with pregnancy, and it's true that I certainly have more of them now.

But I distinctly remember my first stretch mark, blossoming on my right inner thigh when I was a teenager. I was mortified. I thought I was alone, but my best friend confided that she had them, too.

Stretch marks are just skin. They're part of our anatomy, and they show our skin functioning how it's supposed to. Even my lean, fit husband has stretch marks all over his back. We put such an emphasis on stretch marks being bad or unhealthy, but everyone has them. Stretch marks are the road map to my life, and there's no way I'm covering them up.

We need to do more to accept bigger bodies

When I look at this issue of SI, I see more representation. This is how all magazines should look, with beautiful women of all shapes, sizes, and hues.

But the truth is, we still have a long way to go. People associate large bodies with being unhealthy. I even internalized that during my pregnancy, expecting complications, but it was a breeze for me. Still, fatphobia in the medical field is a serious issue.

If anyone has a problem with this issue — or with my body — they need to ask themselves why. We've become more accepting as a culture, but we still have a long way to go. And until we ask the hard questions, we're not going to make progress as quickly as we should.