The supermodel first met Jack when he was only 3 months old
Gisele Bündchen has had a special relationship with her stepson Jack since he was just a baby.
In a new sit-down interview with Robin Roberts, the Brazilian supermodel, 43, opened up about her relationship with Tom Brady’s son Jack, 16, whom he shares with ex Bridget Moynahan. Brady and Bündchen were married from 2009 to 2022, with the mom of two meeting Jack when he was only 3 months old.
“I got to experience how it is to feel, to be a mom before I was even a mom. To be a bonus mom,” she shares. “So I got to experience how my heart could feel that love and just expand in ways I never thought were possible.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Gisele Bündchen Gives Rare Look into Co-Parenting Relationship with Tom Brady, Admits ‘There’s Easier Days’
Later in her conversation with Roberts, the cookbook author remembers meeting her stepson when he was very little.
“But I mean, I met him when he was 3 months old, you know? I raised him like. I love him,” Bündchen adds.
In August, Bündchen celebrated Jack on his 16th birthday, sharing a throwback photo on Instagram where she held a toddler Jack, as well as a more recent photo of them, plus one of him with her and the retired NFL pro’s two kids — daughter Vivian, 11, and son Benjamin Rein, 14.
In the caption, she wrote, “Happy birthday Jack! I can’t believe that you are turning 16!”
Appearing on the cover of Vanity Fair‘s April 2023 issue, the supermodel mom talked about how Moynahan’s co-parenting relationship with the retired athlete has helped shape her own with the former NFL star following their split.
Praising her “great relationship” with Moynahan, Bündchen told the outlet, “Everything in life comes with work. You have to go through the roller coaster. You have moments where you get to the sticky points and you’ve gotta overcome it.”
Bündchen admitted that things weren’t always so easy between the two, with their first conversation coming over a year after Brady and Moynahan’s son Jack was born — in the early days of the former spouses’ relationship, which Bündchen called a “challenging situation.”
“Love conquers all,” Bündchen said of that time in her life. “My life became so much richer because I got to learn so much from that.”
“We’re not playing against each other,” she shared. “We are a team, and that’s beautiful. I look back and I have no regrets. I loved every bit of it.”
As for Jack, Bündchen still considers him her “bonus child,” and noted, “I love him so very much.”
Bündchen’s full interview is streaming now on ABC News Studios’ Impact x Nightline on Hulu.