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Gisele Caroline Bundchen is a Brazilian model, occasional film actress and goodwill ambassador for the UN Environment Programme. In 1993, a then-13-year-old Bundchen joined a modeling course with her sisters Patrícia and Gabriela at her mother's insistence. The following year, Bundchen went to Sao Paulo on a school excursion to give them an opportunity to walk in a big city. In a shopping mall, while eating at McDonald's with her friends, Bundchen was discovered by a modeling agency. In 1996, Bundchen moved to New York City to begin her modeling career, debuting at Fashion Week. On 11 April 2008, a black-and-white photo of Bundchen, shot by Irving Penn, was auctioned for US$193,000. The picture was one of dozens from the collection of Gert Elfering that were sold at Christie's International in New York.

She promotes protecting the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and Amazon Rainforest water sources, donating to this cause a percentage of profits from her line of sandals named Ipanema Gisele Bundchen. On 20 September 2009, she was designated Goodwill Ambassador for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP). In January 2010, Bundchen donated US$1,500,000 to relief efforts for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Since 2010, she worked on an animated web series called Gisele and the Green Team, to highlight green issues to educate kids and adults. In March 2011, it was reported, Bundchen wrote a check for $1 million to the earthquake fund created by the Japanese Red Cross Society after the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami. It was also reported she sent $250,000 to the Pacific Tsunami Fund and Save the Children and another $250,000 to a Japanese Red Cross earthquake fund.

From 2000 to 2005, Bundchen was in a relationship with American actor Leonardo DiCaprio. On Thursday, 26 February 2009, Bundchen married Tom Brady in a small Catholic ceremony at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California. On 5 April 2009, the couple remarried in a larger ceremony in Costa Rica, with Brady's son (whom he had with actress Bridget Moynahan) present. In December 2009, Bundchen gave birth to a boy in Boston, named Benjamin Rein Brady—his middle name is in honor of Bundchen's mother's father Reinoldo. Bundchen caused controversy when she told Harper's Bazaar Magazine that breastfeeding should be a "worldwide law", but later moderated her comments on her blog, stating, "my intention [was to] make a comment about the importance of breastfeeding".