Layne Beachley shares what it's like to grow up as the result of date-rape.

Former professional surfer and seven-time world champion Layne Beachley has revealed the intricate complexities of a childhood laced with adoption, self-doubt and being the product of a date-rape.

In an interview with the Sunday Herald Sun, Beachley told Hamish McLachlan there is little doubt that although she grew up in a loving and stable environment, her long battle with self-confidence dates back to well before her adoption.

Telling the story of how she was conceived, Beachley told McLachlan her mother was an aspiring model who went to dinner with the manager of a modelling agency.

A photo posted by Layne Beachley (@laynebeachley) on Aug 29, 2016 at 8:45pm PDT

“She had a lovely dinner with him, took her back to his apartment and raped her. That is all I know. That is her series of events. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know where he is. I don’t know his last name. He also must have known Maggie in her early years,” she said.

Her biological mother, Maggie, was only 17 when Beachley came into the world. After backflipping on an intention to adopt, Maggie’s family told her she would not be welcome back in the house if she did not give the baby up. So she did.

“It was a great decision. I am 100 per cent grateful for it, because I was adopted into a beach loving family with the surname Beachley, and became a pro surfer. How much better can it get?” Beachley told McLachlan.

However, despite confirming the fact adoption was the best decision for all parties, Beachley did acknowledge that she harboured extensive self-doubt and lacked a great sense of self-worth due to only being told about being adopted at age eight.

A photo posted by Layne Beachley (@laynebeachley) on May 12, 2016 at 1:37am PDT

“As an adoptee, irrespective of the series of events that led up to me being adopted, I did have massive abandonment issues, and fears of rejection.” she said.

However, it was that sense of “abandonment” that led Beachley to become the person we now know her to be: A world champion surfer.

Making a pact with herself at the age of eight, Beachely was convinced if she was world champion at something, “then everyone would love me.”