Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian, who married in 2017, have a daughter Olympia, who will turn six in September.
Serena Williams’ family is growing!
The pro tennis champion, 41, is expecting her second child with Reddit co-founder husband Alexis Ohanian. The couple’s 5-year-old daughter Olympia was born in November of that same year.
Williams posted a carousel of images of herself and Ohanian on Instagram on Monday. Williams is shown holding her baby bump in one snap, while the couple is depicted smiling in another.
The photo’s caption stated, “Was so excited when Anna Wintour invited the three of us to the Met Gala,” and it also provided guidelines for the appropriate attire, hairstyle, and makeup application.
After writing a first-person article for Vogue last year about her desire to start a “evolution” away from tennis and her plans to expand her family of three, Williams announced that she was expecting a child.
In the piece, Williams also stated that she “never thought about having kids” when she first started her career.
I’ve had moments where I’ve wondered if I should ever have kids in this world with all of its issues. “I was never that confident or comfortable around babies or children, and I figured that if I ever did have a baby, I would have people taking care of it 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” she said.
Williams described herself as Olympia’s “incredibly hands-on mother” despite receiving “a lot of support.”
“In five years, Olympia has only been away from me for one 24-hour period.” “I got to pick her up from school four or five days a week this year while I was recovering from a hamstring injury, and I always looked forward to seeing her face light up when she walked out of the building and saw me waiting there for her,” said the four-time Olympic gold champion. “The fact is that nothing is a sacrifice for me when it comes to Olympia.”
Williams’ first labor wasn’t a simple one. The tennis champion was rushed into an emergency cesarean section, and after the birth, a coughing fit caused her wound to reopen, prompting doctors to discover several, potentially life-threatening blood clots in her body.
After her daughter was born, Williams told PEOPLE that she felt lucky to be alive, but that she spent the next six weeks in bed recovering and adjusting to motherhood.
“I’ve spent my entire life physically pushing my body to its limits,” she explained. “And this is the one time when I had no control.” I couldn’t push my body any further. I pushed my body to the limit. That was extremely difficult.”
In January 2021, Williams spoke on how the happiness she discovered in her spouse and their daughter had a great effect on her.
“It gives me a lot of reason beyond what I do, and so, it’s really important,” she stated at the time. “I’d been so focused on my career my entire life, but after having a family and getting married, I realized there’s so much more to life.” That was fantastic.”
“Not everything is going to be perfect, not everything is going to be great,” she added, reflecting on her new perspective on life not always going as planned. You cannot go anywhere and expect to be flawless in everything. I’m going to win it all. ‘I’m going to do it all.’”
“It doesn’t matter how many times you fall. It has to do with how frequently you get up. That is the most important point. And it’s incredibly important to have that mindset,” she added. “And that’s what I’ve always said, really, a champion isn’t defined by how many wins they have, but by how they recover when they fall.”
