Adriana Lima was born in Salvador, the only child of Nelson Torres and Maria da Graça Lima. Her father left the family when she was six months old. She has two half-brothers. Adriana Lima was discovered when she decided to join with a friend when modeling contest Brazil's Ford Supermodel. At age 16, she won the modeling contest, which she qualified for participation in the biggest modeling contest in the world, the Supermodel of the World Contest of the Ford Models Agency. They competed against the 49 winners of each other Ford Supermodel Contest and finally after the Second Canadian Leanne Spencer.
