This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost Australia, which closed in 2021.

Dad Has Beautiful Response To Wife's Negative Comment About Her Body

Dad Has Beautiful Response To Wife's Negative Comment About Her Body

After giving birth to her two children, blogger Laura Mazza struggled with body image issues.

The Australian mother, who blogs at Mum on the Run, saw her figure change after two pregnancies in three years. In a recent moment of insecurity, Mazza turned to her husband and told him, “This isn’t the body you fell in love with.”

She shared his beautiful response in a Facebook post that has gone viral.

“The body he fell in love with was toned, it had muscles, there were no stretch marks on my belly, none on my boobs, no gut from muscle separation,” Mazza wrote, adding that she could once fit into tight jeans and easily buy clothes that fit at any store.

This body now couldn’t shop at those stores, and mostly wears leggings,” she wrote. “His body stayed the same, but mine changed in every way. It isn’t fair...”

Mazza ― who has a 3-year-old son, Luca, and 1-year-old daughter, Sofia ― recalled recently feeling “exhausted and broken,” looking at her husband with tears in her eyes, and declaring “this isn’t the body you fell in love with.”

In response, he said, “You’re right. It isn’t the body I fell in love with.”

The dad added:

“Instead it’s a body that grew our children, it fed our children, it comforted our children, it made life. Your body is the one I fall in love with every day. I didn’t know what love was until I saw this body and found out all it could do, so thank you.”

Mazza ended the post with a message to her fellow mothers. She urged them to not feel ashamed of their “mum” bodies. “There’s plenty of time to give up cake in the future, for now, enjoy the moments you have, and enjoy the fact that you have made something that is worth every stretch mark and every dimple.”

She concluded, “If you needed a reminder, this is it, this body you have now, it’s worth every bit of love and more.”

The Facebook post received over 38,000 likes by Tuesday afternoon and had been shared over 62,000 times. Mazza, who lives in Melbourne, told HuffPost she’s been overwhelmed by the beautiful response and enjoys reading the comments and seeing how many parents tagged their partners.

She said she hopes people who read the post develop a new sense of pride about their bodies and greater understanding of how many women feel. She also hopes more women realize their partners love them for who they are and appreciate their bodies for what they do.

Mazza told HuffPost she aims to empower women whenever she can and felt this conversation would help do that.

“Women spend a lot of time beating themselves up over their post-baby body,” she said. “But if they could take a step back and see the powerful things they’ve done, like made life, they’d know they are deserving of love at any shape.”

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