Opinionated Prejean, Ireland shatter myth

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By Karen Goldberg Goff

Miss Ireland is most famous for modeling for Sports Ilustrated's swimsuit issue 13 times, including three covers in the 1980s and 1990s. Today, she is the mother of three and CEO of Kathy Ireland Worldwide, a home-furnishings company. In her new book, "Real Solutions for Busy Moms: Your Guide to Success and Serenity," she writes of the centrality of faith in her life.

"I would be a complete disaster without it," she says. "For me, it is everything. Life and motherhood are challenging and sometimes scary. As moms, our responsibility to our families is to feel our fear, walk through it and do our best."

She writes in the book about how she became a Christian when she was 18 and on a modeling assignment in France. Recalling how she picked up a Bible "out of boredom, jet lag and loneliness," Miss Ireland says, "It really transformed my life. I knew I was holding the truth in my hands. A living faith in God is more than believing in him and going to church. It is an ongoing relationship that takes time."

Miss Ireland, who lends her name to several causes, acknowledges that she may not have sent the right message in her modeling heyday. "I regret that a few times in my modeling career, I may have contributed to ... messages [parents find objectionable]," she writes. "Today, as an older and wiser mom, there are a few photo shoots I wish I'd passed on. When you know better, you do better."

Miss Ireland helps promote Tangle.com, a faith-based social-networking site where children and teens can post blogs, view videos and communicate in an environment that contains appropriate material. She also supports the Virginia-based Safe Surfin' Foundation, which provides awareness and education about Internet predators.

"We live in an age of technology," Miss Ireland says. "You can do every safety precaution in your home, but kids are going to be in other homes. We've got to educate and do everything in our power to keep them safe."

Miss Ireland credits education for another recent change in her life. She says she has always been a passionate supporter of women's rights, but she recently changed her views on abortion.

"I was pro-choice," she says. "It wasn't something I would ever choose for myself, but I felt, 'Who am I to tell a woman what to do with her body?' " Miss Ireland says her revised approach is based on science, not faith.

"You can be an atheist and know it is not OK to take a life," she says. "I dove into the medical books. I said, 'Please show me some evidence that an unborn baby is not a human being.' But there wasn't any. I read everything I could get my hands on. I called Planned Parenthood. I talked to my pro-choice friends. Nothing. The moment life begins, there is a blueprint for DNA.

"Some people assume because I am pro-life I am anti-woman, but that could not be further from the truth," she says.

Sarah Anne Sumpleoc of Fredericksburg, Va., who writes the blog Girls, God and the Good Life, says she thinks the culture may be heading to a time when conservative role models may not be such a rarity. She tries to write about role models on the blog often "because girls are looking for it."

"Whether you are 13 or 30, we all look for role models," she says. "We want to say, 'I want to be like that.' There are a whole lot of women doing amazing things, living what they believe and not afraid to show it."