egg freezing – Serena Williams said freezing her eggs in her 20s gave her options and helped lift pressure about starting a family while she kept playing.
Serena Williams says freezing her eggs in her 20s turned a heavy personal burden into something she could manage, freeing her to focus on her professional life.
Speaking to Michelle Obama during a live taping of the “IMO” podcast. released Wednesday. the 44-year-old tennis champion described her decision as a proactive move she believes other women should consider as they plan their own futures.. “I tell all my friends of age. freeze your eggs. ” Williams said. framing the choice as a way to support the life path many women want to pursue. both personally and professionally.
Williams said the timing of the decision mattered for her.. She described feeling that she was not ready to stop playing professional tennis. and that she wanted to keep going rather than being pressured to start a family at a specific moment.. She explained that after freezing her eggs. she felt an immediate psychological shift—less pressure. and a sense that “all this weight” fell from her shoulders.
Now, she says, she continues to encourage open conversations about fertility options.. Williams told the audience she has been urging others to consider egg freezing and believes that advances in technology make it reassuring to know there are choices later on. even if a person’s life timeline changes.
She also highlighted what those options can mean for different family situations. Williams said that even if someone marries later, eggs that were frozen earlier can still be used with a partner. In her view, the decision expands the range of possibilities rather than narrowing them.
Williams previously welcomed her first daughter, Olympia, in September 2017, when she was 35.. She and Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian married later that year, and their second daughter, Adira, was born in 2023.. Her comments tie her fertility choice to the practical reality that career and family planning do not always follow a neat schedule.
On the parenting side, Williams said she does not follow a single, fixed parenting philosophy.. Still, she described a clear approach to raising her daughters: being present and striving to be her best.. She said her home life is organized to a point. and that the way she parents reflects her own personality rather than a one-size-fits-all method.
Her focus, Williams said, is centered on her children—raising them, teaching them how she wants them to live, and shaping daily life around their needs. “Everything is around my kids,” she said, describing her role as both nurturing and instructive.
Williams is not the only public figure to speak about egg freezing in recent years. In November 2022, Jennifer Aniston said she wished she had been encouraged to freeze her eggs when she was younger, telling listeners she did not think to do it and that “the ship has sailed” for her at this point.
In March 2023. Priyanka Chopra also discussed her own experience. saying she felt “such a freedom” after freezing her eggs in her early 30s.. Chopra linked that sense of relief to her ability to pursue career goals without the same level of anxiety about timing. including the worry that had come from not having met the person she wanted to have children with at the time.
Taken together. the remarks from Williams and other celebrities underscore how fertility decisions are increasingly discussed as part of broader life planning—where career goals. personal readiness. and family timelines can all pull in different directions.. By speaking openly about the emotional effect of having options. Williams’ account adds to a growing public conversation that treats egg freezing not as a single event. but as a tool designed to reduce uncertainty.
Serena Williams egg freezing fertility options women’s health parenting Michelle Obama podcast celebrity fertility