Karolina Kurkova's Missing Bellybutton Explained (PHOTOS)

Victoria's Secret angel Karolina Kurkova surprised onlookers with her almost invisible bellybutton at last week's show in Miami, but there is an explanation.

"She had an operation when she was an infant," her rep told the Daily News. "It's a fact and just thank God she's healthy."

The mystery of her strangely smooth tummy surfaced again as the Czech supermodel strutted her stuff on the runway in Miami two weeks ago.

There was simply an indentation where the center "button" should have been.

And don't be fooled by the glossy magazine spread: though the voluptuous blond seems to have a perfect button in the pages of magazines and catalogs, industry sources have revealed that is usually the result of photo retouching.

So what belly button condition could baby Kurkova have had?

Doctors say it was likely an umbilical hernia.

"It does look like [she may have had] an umbilical hernia as a child that was either fixed or not fixed, which can distort the belly button," said Dr. Matthew Schulman, a plastic surgeon at Manhattan's Mount Sinai Medical Center.

See more photos from the Victoria's Secret show here

Kurkova last weekend:

Karolina Kurkova at 2007's Victoria's Secret show:

Back in June Karolina Kurkova was labeled fat during a South American fashion week. But, she looked amazing in Miami.

Karolina Kurkova on IMBDB

Karolina's MySpace Profile

Karolina's Victoria Secret Show (VIDEO)

Karolina YouTube Video

Comments

[Oilygarch]

10:36 PM on 11/25/2008

It may have simply been a former tummy-tuck that effaced her former belly-butt­on.

[Not ur average Joe]

02:44 PM on 11/25/2008

belly button or not. I would ______ the _______ outta her all day everyday!! she's pretty

[beanchihuahua]

01:59 PM on 11/25/2008

Good for her that she doesn't need to have one surgically placed. A lot of women with tummy tucks have a fake belly button from the skin being stretched down to tighten it.

[quizh]

01:34 PM on 11/25/2008

She is an alien.

[HatingTheGame]

11:42 AM on 11/25/2008

Whaaa??? She's a freak!

[FrictionSoul]

10:52 AM on 11/25/2008

I got a hernia just looking at that first photo.

[BassMent]

02:49 PM on 11/25/2008

I got something too, but it wasn't a hernia.

[gopee1990]

05:40 AM on 11/25/2008

i hear this kind of story now only !
where is her belly button ?

gopi@iwebf­orums.org

[notb observer]

02:54 AM on 11/25/2008

Sorry, but I don't find this woman's face to be terribly attractive­...
Something about the teeth and mouth... way too much of both of those.
I'm half expecting a second drooly head to lurch out of her mouth "a la Alien" and bare another set of teeth.

[notb observer]

02:51 AM on 11/25/2008

Sorry, but I don't find this woman's face to be terribly attractive­...
Something about the teeth and mouth... way too much of both of those.
I'm half expecting a second head to lurch out of her mouth "a la Alien" and bare another set of teeth.

[Eyeful]

01:54 AM on 11/25/2008

I wouldn't kick her out of bed.

[prunesquallor]

12:25 AM on 11/25/2008

According to David Kirby, her obvious deformitie­s are due to too may vaccinatio­ns during childhood.

[planetjeffy]

11:00 PM on 11/24/2008

as long as she's still got a hoo ha, she's ok with me

[dramaunfolding]

11:20 PM on 11/24/2008

I think you are safe.

[naught101]

07:08 AM on 11/25/2008

WTF is a hoo ha?

[Oceanus]

10:55 PM on 11/24/2008

No belly button - it is our mother alien from the reptilian species!

One or two nights posting this for levity is one thing (maybe?), but that I am still reading this one week later? Who the F..'n cares. Get a life Huffington Post.

[dianiaraj]

10:53 PM on 11/24/2008

This is just really sad that the world has ignorant and stupid people in it, like some of the people who posted comments. My daughter also does not have a belly button, and when I say she doesn't, she doesn't, karolina still has something. My daughter was born with a medical condition called gastroschi­sis. And let me state, I don't due durgs, never have never will, don't smoek, and don't drink. I was only 22 when I got pregnant, and they doctors have no idea why it happens. They believe it is something enviroment­al. She may have been born with gastro and to save her life her existing belly button had to be cut out. I suggest you do some reasearch if your interested­. But it's when a baby is born with a hole on the right side of the umbilical cord, resulting some or all of the contents of the abdomen being out. I had wished my daughter wouldn't be ridiculed for her tummy, because I tell her God makes everyone unique, and it's God, who made her special, and that just means she came from God, she is not of this world, but a divine creation.

[notb observer]

02:46 AM on 11/25/2008

I don't know if you are in any position to call people ignorant and stupid... It's fine to tell an infant that god made them special and all that, just like telling them that the Xmas presents are from an old white bearded guy called Santa Claus, but hopefully when she's a little older you will have the decency to tell your child that there is no Santa Claus, and the whole "god made you special" thing was just stories we tell kids when they're too young to understand otherwise.
While it's your choice to "believe", why not give your child a chance to make up her own mind by telling her the truth, namely, your belief in god is a personal choice, but you have no way to know if he/she/it exists, and therefore you can only encourage her to show some curiosity on the matter instead of bringing her up in an environmen­t that perpetuate­s your personal beliefs.
Maybe if she develops intellectu­al curiosity she will grow up to become a doctor and find the cause and treatment for gastroschi­sis, instead of believing that it was something god inflicted upon her, and is therefore powerless to change.

[Veronica]

10:20 PM on 11/25/2008

This may very well be the first time I've ever defended a religious person, and I actually agree with the substance of things you say, but could you be any more self-right­eous? Jesus (no pun intended).

[Brillig]

07:23 AM on 11/26/2008

Most of the "people" on this post are just plain Republican­!

That is what I call really nasty, bigoted and simple-min­ded people.

Tell me, what part of that indentatio­n on the womans stomach is NOT a belly button. Millions of people all over the world have that exact same stomach - not caused by any thing.

And IF it was caused by GOD, then what is wrong with the mother telling her child that....or is it that she is just not to BELIEVE in GOD...beca­use you don't believe in Him?

A mother telling her child she is OK because God made her so is PERFECTLY all right...ma­ny of us BLACK mothers have had to tell our own kids -you are ok, even if you are black, GOD made you so...I guess you would want us to teach our children intellectu­al curiosity so they would find a cure to BLACKNESS - the fact is, why would they want to, and why would Katerina want to change her belly button?

Both are perfectly OK...maybe JUST BECAUSE GOD MADE THEM SO!!

[rnorthro14]

10:13 PM on 11/24/2008

I thought it was due to her having been cloned in a lab.

[bcarries]

09:36 AM on 11/25/2008

And exactly how much would it cost to "get one of my own"?