Supermodel Milla Jovovich has revealed her size zero figure means she cannot get pregnant. The Ukraine-born model, actress and fashion-designer says that she needs to be skinny to get work, but fears it is stopping her having a baby. The Fifth Element star, 30, admitted she had been trying to have a child with her British film director partner Paul Anderson, who she met in 2002.
'I'd love to have a baby and I think the only thing stopping me is my active lifestyle,' she said. 'I need to take a year off and eat some yummy food and then, boom, it will happen. My body won't let me get pregnant now because it knows it wouldn't be in a healthy environment.'
Jovovich, who also starred in Joan Of Arc, is the face of Mango's Autumn/Winter collection and also models for L'Oreal. Healthy adult women have a Body Mass Index of between 18.5 and 25.
Size Zero models have a BMI of less than 18, which is categorised by doctors as medically underweight.
Midwife, nutritionist and acupuncturist Zita West treats about 500 women a year who are too skinny to get pregnant.
'Weight affects fertility in a big way,' she said. 'Too far underweight and periods can just stop.'
Victoria Beckham, 32, was recently reported to be on a high carbohydrate diet to improve her chances of conceiving again.
Last month, one of the world's biggest fashion shows banned 'stick-thin' models. The Clothes Show Live said it needed to 'set a responsible example' to the thousands of impressionable young girls who flocked to the catwalks.