Gigi Hadid is notoriously discreet when it comes to innate details on daughter, Khai. In a new cover interview with i-D Magazine however, the 26-year-old mother has revealed her experience on being pregnant during the pandemic and how she plans to raise her child with partner, Zayn Malik.
When asked how she is approaching parenthood within a multi-ethnic household (Hadid’s mother Yolanda is Dutch, while Hadid’s father Mohamed is Palestinian) she looked back at her own childhood.
“We [Zayn and me] think about it and talk about it a lot as partners and it’s something that’s really important to us, but it’s also something that we first experienced ourselves,” Hadid said. “Because both of our parents are their own heritage. We are that first generation of those mixed races, and then that comes with that first generational experience of being like, ‘Oh damn, I’m the bridge!’. That’s not something that my parents experienced or that they can really help me through. It’s something I’ve always thought about my whole life.”
Hadid’s sister, Bella, was extremely vocal during the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that occurred last month. But according to the model, she struggled standing up for her heritage.
In certain situations, I feel–or I’m made to feel–that I’m too white to stand up for part of my Arab heritage,” Hadid continued. “You go through life trying to figure out where you fit in racially. Is what I am, or what I have, enough to do what I feel is right? But then, also, is that taking advantage of the privilege of having the whiteness within me, right? Am I allowed to speak for this side of me, or is that speaking on something that I don’t experience enough to know? Do you know what I’m saying?
“I think that Khai will grow up feeling out the way that she can or wants to be a bridge for her different ethnicities,” Hadid said. “But I think that it will be nice to be able to have those conversations, and see where she comes from [with] it, without us putting that onto her. What comes from her is what I’m most excited about, and being able to add to that or answer her questions, you know?”
Earlier this year, Malik spoke about the experience of fatherhood with iHeartRadio and Hadid’s adjustment to raising a baby.
“Honestly, it’s amazing,” Malik told the outlet. “A lot of people that I was speaking to, obviously before she was born and stuff, were like, ‘It’s a big adjustment, and it’s going to be a massive change and stuff.’ But honestly, she’s an amazing baby. It’s been really easy for me and Gigi to kind of just ease into it, I guess. [Khai] kind of made it easy for us. She sleeps really well, she loves her milk. It’s just feeding and changing diapers at the minute. It’s wicked. I’m enjoying it, for sure.”
