Family planning and reproductive health have become hot topics in women’s sports as of late, thanks to athlete moms like Allyson Felix, Serena Williams and Alex Morgan.
USWNT Becky Sauerbrunn is the latest athlete to speak out on the issue, telling teammates Lynn Williams and Sam Mewis on the Snacks podcast that fertility has been top of mind lately.
“We are thinking about freezing my eggs and so we have been talking about that quite a bit,” Sauerbrunn said of herself and her partner Zola Short.
Sauerbrunn cites a women’s health seminar hosted by the Portland Thorns which touched on fertility and egg freezing and inspired her to look more seriously into the process.
NWSL club Racing Louisville recently announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with Kentucky Fertility Institute in October, providing players with fertility services. Sauerbrunn calls the move “genius.”
“As professional athletes — to have that pressure taken off us where we feel like our biological clock is ticking, where we have to decide between continuing to play or to start a family.”
Sauerbrunn likewise praises the WNBA, which is now providing all players with access to fertility services.
For Williams, she says she wants kids in the future but not during her playing career.
“To all the moms that have kids and come back and play, I think that it’s amazing,” says Williams. “Watching my sister have kids, it’s so hard so knowing you have to come back and play after your body has changed. And then on top of that, you have to take care of this little, tiny human. Kudos to you — not for me though.”
Instead, Williams says she wants “to have one part” of her life “and then transition” to another part of her life.
“It’s so amazing that you don’t have to choose anymore,” said Williams. “So many people end their careers early to have kids because they don’t want to come back.”
Listen to the full conversation with Sauerbrunn on fertility and her playing career on the latest Snack podcast.
