Mina Starsiak Hawk Defends Decision to Get a Tummy Tuck After C-Section

From Prevention

Good Bones star Mina Starsiak Hawk has continued to be very candid about her body, pre- and post-pregnancy. In her latest Instagram post, the mom of two spoke out about her decision to get a tummy tuck.

On Wednesday, Starsiak shared a photo of her Cesarean delivery (C-section) scar as well as a note expressing her thoughts and feelings about her body since giving birth to her second child. She prefaces her post with a photo of her son Jack, 2, and her daughter Charlotte, who was born on September 16. "Swipe right only if you are OK with seeing my C SECTION SCAR,' she wrote in the caption, warning fans about the images that are to follow. Past the c-section photos, she also included screenshots from the Notes section on her phone.

"As a woman and as a mom I feel it's tough to 'win,'" the note's title read. The first few lines shed a light on the unrealistic expectations that society expects moms to adhere to—such as "embracing your body in all its form" while simultaneously not "letting yourself go."

Then, Starsiak gets blunt: "I don't lovingly embrace my post baby body, particularly my scar and the lovely 'shelf' that comes along with it," the 35-year-old mother wrote. "It doesn't remind me of my ability to grow a life for 10 months and then birth it ... my amazing kids do that," she explained. Instead "it reminds me that I was cut open and put back together in a way that doesn't feel like ME."

She explained that society has guilted her into feeling bad about talking negatively about her body. "Bc I'm supposed to love my body no matter what and if I don't I'm not feminist enough or strong enough against societal norms," she wrote. However, at the end of the day, Starsiak expressed that she doesn't love her body right now. "I don't love my scar or my shelf or my abdominal muscles that tore apart and will likely never go back together the same."

With that said, she shared that she plans to get a tummy tuck. She explained that she's been thinking about the procedure for awhile, and despite the judgement that comes along with it, she takes pride in showing fans the real her: "This is me. The good, the bad and the ugly."

For fans who may not agree with her decision, she wrote: "Think of me what you will, but I'm least I'm being honest about it and not posting a beautiful picture on some beach in 6 months with a tummy that does NOT look like it carried a child and letting you all think it is and that it's something you all should be able to just work hard enough to obtain.”

Besides mending her C-section scar, this tummy tuck would also help remedy her abdominal muscles which tore apart during her pregnancy. As a refresher, Starsiak suffered from diastasis recti when carrying Charlotte. As Healthline writes, diastasis recti "is the partial or complete separation of the rectus abdominis, or 'six-pack' muscles, which meet at the midline of your stomach. While the condition usually isn’t dangerous, it does alter the stomach’s appearance. Starsiak previously explained in her Instagram Stories that if she laid down flat and tried to sit up to contract her abs "instead of being like a smooth circle for my belly, it's kind of like a triangle.”

Currently Starsiak has no timeline for when she'll get the procedure, but plans to share as much as she can with her followers along the way. "Here's to keeping it real," she wrote.

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