Body galleries for women who have had children

September 20, 2011 10:09 PM

Is there a website for photos of women who have had kids?

I'm aware of My Body Gallery and some of the other sites out there. But I wondered if there were online pics anywhere of women who have had children.

The reason I am asking is that, when I look up my body weight/height on the other sites, the people are way thinner. I don't mean to suggest I have a dysmorphia issue. The women in the pics do not have pendulous breasts or huge pouches on their stomachs. In fact, for my height/weight, I have to go up about 30 lbs to see anyone who looks like me. This is not because I am looking and thinking I am super fat. It's that I can't otherwise find 165-lb women with stomachs that overhand their lower body.

I just wondered if there was a gallery anywhere that would help me see if I really look so different from other women who have had children. Honestly, I'm stunned to see pics of the other women my height/weight, as they look pretty fit. But perhaps they have not had two children (or a c-section?). Any thoughts on whether there is a gallery I can look at? Thanks.

posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats to health & fitness (9 answers total)

The Shape of a Mother
posted by crazycanuck at 10:16 PM on September 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

the shape of a mother seems close to what you're looking for.
posted by ilk at 10:16 PM on September 20, 2011 [1 favorite]

Thirding the Shape of a Mother...although even there, the bodies of women who had their kids in their 20s look a lot different from mine (I had my son at 36).
posted by devotion+doubt at 10:38 PM on September 20, 2011

I'm curious: if it's not too personal, could you elaborate, devotion+doubt? Do you mean that because you had your son at 36, your body shows the usual signs of aging plus the usual post-pregnancy signs?
posted by UniversityNomad at 11:14 PM on September 20, 2011

Note that there is a little bit of selection bias going on in Shape of the Mother -- people who feel truly socially unacceptable are less likely to submit compared to people who feel proud of how they look now. It goes against the point of the site, but there's no fighting human nature.

Still, I think it's the closest you're going to find to what you're looking for.
posted by Andrhia at 5:32 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

I can't speak for devotion+doubt, but I had my kid later than many women do (at 32), and my body just didn't bounce back as fast (or at all) compared to women I know who had a child in their 20s. I'm still carrying "baby weight" and it's been...ahem...more than a couple of years now.

As for online pics, have you checked into the many "mommy blogs" out there? I've seen pictures on such blogs of women's bodies post-pregnancy.
posted by SuperSquirrel at 6:17 AM on September 21, 2011 [1 favorite]

Yeah, having had my child at 40, I think there's less resilience to your skin/muscles/etc. I am still a bit shocked at my post-partum condition, three years out.
posted by otherwordlyglow at 9:53 AM on September 21, 2011

Thanks. Shape of a Mother seems more like what I am looking for, but the moms on there are so very young. (Even in their teens.)

If someone posted a Mefi Projects site with a gallery that also sorted by age and pregnancy status, that would be awesome. :)

I did try looking at mommy blogs, but they were harder to search than just going to a gallery. I live in hope!
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 10:08 PM on September 21, 2011

Yeah, what SuperSquirrel and otherworldlyglow said--I was actually in pretty decent shape before having my son, but nothing really, ahem, bounced back. (Although I also have pretty bad hypothyroidism, which hasn't helped.) I agree about the selection bias on SoaM...I wish there was a site more like what you're describing too!
posted by devotion+doubt at 10:15 AM on September 22, 2011