Emily Ratakowski is pregnant with her first child! She announced the news by publishing an essay (opens in new tab) in Vogue about gender and parenthood (opens in new tab), along with a pregnancy shoot and short film (opens in new tab). Rutkowski explained why she and her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard, would not announce the gender of their child and reflected on their fears about raising a girl or boy.

"When my husband and I tell our friends that we are pregnant, the first question after "congratulations" is almost always "Do you know what you want?"

"We're not sure what we want, but it's always the same. We like to answer that we won't know the gender until the child turns 18 and then they will tell us. People laugh at this," Latakowski wrote.

"But there is truth in our dialogue, and one that hints at a possibility far more complex than what genitalia our child will be born with. Who will this child be? What kind of parents will we be?' 'How will this child change our lives and ourselves? ' I don't like to impose preconceived notions on people based on their gender, let alone a baby. I want to be a parent who allows my child to show me who he or she is."

Ratakowski spoke of her fear of passing on internalized misogyny to her potential daughter, recalling that she herself "understood early on" how "beauty equals power." She also touched on her concerns about raising boys, writing that she was "afraid of inadvertently fostering a carelessness and unawareness that is so useful for men."

"I am completely, undeniably powerless when it comes to almost everything that surrounds my pregnancy: how my body will change, who my child will be," Ratakowski concluded. 'But it doesn't bother me to a remarkable degree. Instead of feeling fear, I feel a new sense of peace. I am already learning from this person in my body. I am filled with wonder."