Motherhood difficulties for female athletes

Until recently, female athletes did not have much support from their leagues when it came to anything maternity related. The thought of having children as a female athlete was seen as damaging to their career. Most often, female athletes relied on contraceptives. It is not rare to hear of these athletes freezing their eggs. This process requires the unfertilized eggs to be extracted from the ovaries. The eggs will then be frozen and stored for when the women is ready to get pregnant. This is often done for women who want to have kids at a later age where they may not be as fertile as they once were.  WNBA players, Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart are among some of the athletes to have done this. 

 Sport associations are showing more support for female athletes through new maternity leave regulations. The WNBA  is now paying female athletes their full salary while on maternity leave as well as a raise. Previously, WNBA players only received half of their yearly wage for maternity leave. On average,  female basketball players made $75,000 annually (now $130,000). This would not have been enough to live off of annually especially after adding a new born to the mix. The league also guarantees 2 bedroom apartments and   an extra $5,000 for child care necessities. FIFA soccer is also continuing the support by allowing at least 14 weeks of maternity leave paid at a minimum of two thirds of the players full salary. Soccer teams can allow more time off or a higher salary if they wish. Clubs will also have to pay a compensation fee, a fine, and be banned from the transfer market for a year if a players contract is ended for being pregnant. Lastly, The 2020 Olympic Games are now allowing athletes who are breastfeeding to bring their children. Due to the pandemic, no family members/ companions would be allowed to accompany players to the Olympics. An exception was made for nursing mothers. The nursing children will have private accommodations given that they will not be allowed in the Olympic or Paralympic Village.

 For more info on female athletes freezing their eggs: https://apnews.com/article/sports-793dadd5e364f014fd6b9312b895418a