The 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicks off July 20, with a record number of queer players—and there are moms (and moms-to-be) among them! Let’s learn a little about them and see photos of their families!
These athletes are balancing elite-level training and competition with parenthood, and it’s pretty impressive. Not that parenthood is for everyone, but for those who want kids, it’s great to have role models of how to be a parent and also remain one’s own person with one’s own interests. We all give up some things for our children–that’s part of the job description. Yet following our own dreams, too, can set a good example to help our kids pursue their own.
They are also standing on the shoulders of many previous mom-athletes, queer and not, who have fought against stereotypes of what a mother should be, as a recent Reuters article noted. It wasn’t until 2020 that FIFA, the governing body for world football (soccer), guaranteed maternity leave for professional women footballers and assured them that pregnancy would not hurt their careers. (And yes, women are not the only ones who can get pregnant, but FIFA has yet to figure that out.)
Let’s meet the families!
Lorena Benítez (Argentina): Benitez and her partner, Verónica Rivero, coordinator of women’s soccer at Club Atle?tico Estudiantes, are parents of twins, born just two weeks before Benítez left for the 2019 Women’s World Cup. The couple used reciprocal IVF (RIVF), just like my own spouse and I did.
Vanina Correa (Argentina): Correa and her partner also have twins. After Argentina failed to qualify for the World Cup in 2011, Correa left soccer in order to start a family. She had the twins in 2014, and was persuaded to return to the game in 2017. She’s now back for her fourth World Cup as Argentina’s goalie, one month ahead of her 40th birthday.
Áine O’Gorman (Ireland): O’Gorman and spouse Rachel Neary had a son last year, just 11 weeks before Ireland secured its World Cup spot. They are bringing their son to the tournament, and O’Gorman told the Irish Star, “James won’t remember Oz, but we’ll show him pictures when he’s older. I’d like him to look back on these times and be proud of me,” adding, “I would love for him to play football obviously, if he doesn’t want to go down that route that is fair enough. I just want him to be a good person, a happy child and grow up knowing girls and boys can have the same opportunities in life.”
Sherida Spitse (Netherlands): Spitse and Jolien van der Tuin have two children, a son born in 2017 and a daughter born in 2020.
Anja Sønstevold (Norway): Sønstevold and her partner had a child in 2019.
Ivana Andrés (Spain): Andrés and spouse Anabel Moreno announced in February that they are expecting.
Irene Paredes (Spain): Paredes and spouse Lucía Ybarra, who played on Spain’s national field hockey team, had a son in 2021. Clearly he’s learned flexibility from his athlete moms.
Jennifer Falk (Sweden): Goalie Falk and partner Pernilla Johansson had a daughter last year.
There’s also a queer parent among the coaches:
Bev Priestman (Head Coach, Canada): Priestman and spouse Emma Humphries, coach of Canada’s women’s under-17 team and a former New Zealand national player, had their son in 2018. They spoke with the CBC last year about balancing their dual coaching careers, and Humphries insisted they have no interest in coaching the same team. “I mean, what would we talk about when we go home?” she said. She added that the actually try not to talk about soccer at home, but “Bev is much better than me — when she switches off, that’s it. If we’re at home and I try to have a football conversation with her, she says no.”
Please leave a comment if I’ve missed anyone!
And on a related note, while the U.S. Women’s head coach for the 2019 World Cup, Jill Ellis, is now retired, the mom and new member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame spoke with Shondaland last month about her career, women in sports, her mental health challenges, and how becoming a parent prompted her to be more out. It’s worth a read.
Here’s to all of the amazing mom athletes competing in the World Cup this year, to their partners, spouses, and others watching the kids while they compete, and to the kids themselves, cheering them on. You’re an inspiration to us all!
