As she releases her new book, Growing Up For Girls, Emily Andre admits that bringing up kids is a "difficult balance".
The doctor has two children, Millie, 7, and Theo, 5, with singer Peter Andre and is also stepmum to his kids Junior, 16 and Princess, 14.
Emily, 32, says she decided to write the guide for teenagers because she realised not everyone has the parental support she did when she was growing up.
Speaking exclusively to the Mirror she said: "It was a dream of mine to write a book.
"Growing up as a teenage girl, I remembered some of the experiences that I went through in terms of the feelings that you can have.
"I struggled with my skin for example, but fortunately I had my parents there guiding me through it.
"Because they're both doctors there was a lot of things they didn't find embarrassing to talk about, which was brilliant.
"However I realised in my later years that not everybody was in that position."
Emily explained that some children don't feel that they can talk to their parents, adding that many kids have single parents while some have none at all.
"I wanted to try and make teenagers feel like no question is silly, that they're not alone and that everyone's going through the same thing," she said.
Growing Up For Girls explores the ups and downs of teenage years, covering body changes, mood swings, exercise, healthy eating and self-confidence.
Emily, who also has four younger brothers, says being a sister, parent and stepparent have all influenced her book.
"Seeing the different journeys they've all been on was really useful to me," she said.
"Millie is seven, nearly eight and in a few years she'll be having the sex education stuff at school so I am having to start thinking through those issues.
"I try and be open with all the kids. If a child asks you a question, I feel like you owe it to them to give an honest answer."
Emily added that while she always answers her children's and stepchildren's questions "truthfully", if she feels they're not 'quite ready for the answer', she will offer the 'minimal amount of information'.
"You can hide the truth without lying if you really need to," she said.
"It's a difficult balance, but if they've been brave enough to ask you a question, try and be brave enough to give them an honest answer - where possible."
"My son Theo is only five, but he's already asked me how he got in my tummy. He doesn't need to know how babies are made so I answer with minimum information and he just says 'Oh yeah, that's fine', she laughed.
One topic in Growing Up For Girls particularly pertinent to Emily is teenage skin and how to deal with it.
"I used to feel like everyone was staring at me and I still struggle with my skin now," she admits.
"But there is something that can be done about it. I think many teenagers think that it's just their lot, but that's absolutely not true.
"I want to normalise issues such as body odour, hair, or different sized breasts for example, which can really impact your self esteem.
"I want to let teenagers know that everyone is different - but everyone is normal."
Speaking about hubby Pete's reaction to the book, Emily gushed: "He's so proud because he knows what a dream of mine it is.
"He's so supportive - he's just great."
Dr Emily MacDonagh is the author of Growing Up For Girls, published by Scholastic on 6 January.
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