Gigi Hadid on challenges of raising a mixed-race child

Model Gigi Hadid has opened up on her pregnancy during the pandemic and her daughter Khai’s upbringing in a multi-ethnic household.

“We [Zayn and I] think about it and talk about it a lot as partners and it’s something that’s really important to us,” Gigi said. “But it’s also something that we first experienced ourselves.”

Gigi and Zayn welcomed their baby girl on September 24, 2019. Her Arabic name Khai, which means “the chosen one”, was revealed in January. The pandemic allowed her to experience parenthood the way she wanted.

The model said that their daughter’s upbringing is an important discussion since she comes from a multi-ethnic background herself (Gigi’s mother Yolanda is Dutch and father Mohamed Palestinian).

“I think that Khai will grow up feeling out the way that she can or wants to be a bridge for her different ethnicities,” Gigi 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.” How Gigi’s daughter takes her mixed race is what the model is excited about, she added.

Gigi and her sister Bella have been vocal about the Palestine-Israel crisis, protesting against Israel’s atrocities on both social media and streets. “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.”

She chose to keep her pregnancy private due to COVID-19 and the reemergence of the Black Lives Matter protests, which she wanted to use her social media influence for.

Follow SAMAA English on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.