AceShowbiz - Gisele Bundchen insisted on having her pregnant belly airbrushed out of fashion photoshoots while she was expecting because she refused to share the "sacred" experience with the world. The Brazilian beauty first sparked rumors she was to be a mum in May 2009 when she and her American footballer husband Tom Brady were spotted leaving an obstetrician's office just three months after they wed in Santa Monica, California.

Brady denied the claims at the time but the reports refused to go away - and the supermodel only fueled the rumors by staying silent, despite being pictured out and about sporting a bulging stomach. She also featured in a number of new advertising campaigns for top fashion labels, including coat company London Fog, but her baby bump was replaced in the shots with images of her usual slender frame.

London Fog boss Dari Marder said, "Although Gisele was photographed while pregnant, most of the shots have been retouched to respect her privacy during this wonderful and personal time in her life. Nobody is sexier or more beautiful than Gisele Bundchen in nothing but a London Fog trench coat, even with her visible baby bump."

Now, three months after giving birth to baby Benjamin, Bundchen reveals it was her decision to ban fashion bosses from picturing her pregnant. She tells Vogue magazine, "I felt like my pregnancy was a sacred moment for me. I stayed in Boston and I didn't work apart from the contracts I have, and then I only let them use my face."