Today, 22-year-old Danish model Josephine Skriver is used to walking the runway for top brands like Victoria's Secret...
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Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images Kasia Struss, Monika Jagaciak, Josephine Skriver, and Martha Hunt before the 2013 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.
Skriver recently told her story to i-D magazine, revealing that she was conceived via IVF and raised by a lesbian mother and gay father.
In a video interview with i-D, she explains: "When people look at me and know that I'm an IVF kid, I hope they see a person, a human being, just like anyone else. You get so many, 'She's not made the natural way, she shouldn't even be here,' but I am not a science experiment, I am not synthetic, I am just as real as you are."
"My upbringing was a little different from other people. I have a mom who is gay and it's not as easy to all of a sudden get pregnant. But ever since she was a kid, she wanted to be a mom. So in Denmark in 1992, there was this newsletter for the whole LGBTQ community and my mom put an ad in there saying 'I want to bring a child into this world, does anyone want to be a part of that?'" She got a few replies and the first one ended up being my dad."
"Nine months later, I was out.""My dad, at that time, was about to get married to his husband. I didn't like the term 'step mom' or 'step dad' because it always felt like something bad from the Disney movies. So we came up with our own term and called it 'Bonus Mom.'"
"I grew up up with a mom, a dad, and a bonus set of parents."
"Looking back on my childhood, as a kid, I didn't think it was that different. My parents were super open about it, there was no hiding it and no shame...""Until I started school and people told me I was different and told me I was weird." "But I was such a proud kid that no one ever really bullied me."
"It wasn't until I grew up and started traveling as a model that I realized how not accepting the rest of the world is. On social media, it gets really hard with the hate. It's the one place people can say whatever they want without consequences. You get so many comments like 'that's disgusting,' 'that's gross', 'I feel bad for you' and what's hard about social media is that I can't really talk back."
Now a successful model, Skriver says by telling her story she wants to give back to the community that gave her such a happy upbringing. "I feel blessed that I was brought into a family that was taught to be so open," she says. "For me, the fundamental part of every childhood should be love, and my parents had so much to give."
Today, Skriver frequently post about her family on social media.
"Grateful to call this amazing woman our mom. You inspire us every day to be the best people we can. No heart has more love and acceptance than yours. Thank you for everything #HappyMothersday we love you ??????"
Watch Skriver tell her story in her own words below: