This is one side of British supermodel Naomi Campbell that she has been parsimonious in sharing with the world – the more luminous, softer, nurturing side of her that longs for a child.

The rare confessional mood Naomi Campbell was recently in may be a rare sight but the more so to appreciate. Attending a charity event during London Fashion Week, the famously temperamental beauty told reporters she had undergone surgery earlier this year in order to be able to conceive.

“Until March, I wasn’t able to have kids. Now I can,” the Press Association quoted her as saying. “They thought it was a cyst. When they opened it up they realized it was more,” she added.

The supermodel solicited the medical attention of specialists at Sirio Libanes Hospital in São Paolo, Brazil. She had a small cyst removed, her rep revealed at the time. Medical personnel were very discreet regarding the supermodel’s condition.

Last week however, Campbell apparently felt no need for secrecy. Referring to the charity she was supporting, White Ribbon Alliance, which promotes the health of pregnant women and of new moms with young children, the 38-year-old said she could very well relate.

“As a woman myself that wants to have kids, it’s a given that I’d want to be involved in something like this,” she confessed. “I love children. Giving birth is bringing a new energy into the world.”

Campbell joined forces with the wife of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Sarah Brown, for the charity.

It is not only children in general that Campbell loves. She said she would “love to have a family but it’s up to God. I do want to have kids. I’m 38 years old."

Naomi Campbell became the ultimate sex symbol in the 1990s, as she made her swift and insuperable ascension in the supermodel realm. Lately however, she has been better known as a capricious celebrity who attacks her personal assistants when not pleased with their work.

Perhaps her recent confessions will add a lasting layer to her image, one that will improve how she is perceived by the public.