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Hanne Gaby Odiele has graced the pages of Vogue, strutted the catwalks of Paris, Milan and New York and worked for fashion giants like Chanel and Dior. Now, this 28-year-old Belgian supermodel has an announcement and a very important message. “Hi, I’m Hanne,” she cheerfully said in a video released on Monday, “and I’m excited to let the world know I’m intersex.”

What’s it mean to be intersex? In Hanne’s words, “This means that my body isn’t clearly male or female.” According to Intersex Society of North America, there are many ways to be intersex: Intersex people may be born appearing to be female but have mostly male parts; they may appear male but have mostly female parts; or have parts that both genders usually have. Sometimes, a person might not even know they’re intersex until later in life. 

With Hanne’s announcement, she becomes one of the few prominent celebs who openly identifies as intersex. She wasn’t always so confident in her identity though.“No one ever told me about intersex,” she said of her childhood. “They told me I was abnormal, [that] I shouldn’t talk to anybody.” She goes on to say, “Intersex isn’t that rare, almost 2 percent of the population. It’s similar to the population [size] that is born with red hair. Still, most people don’t know we exist.”

As a child, Hanne underwent medical treatments because she is intersex. Now, she’s advocating for children in her same position, saying, “I’m speaking out because it’s time this mistreatment comes to an end. It caused me way too much pain....Intersex people should be able to make their own choices about their bodies.”

Courage, bravery and an amazing message? This supermodel’s also a role model! Check out the video of Hanne below.

What do you think of Hanne's announcement? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

by Emily Cavanagh | 1/26/2017