Red Stars team up with fertility clinic to help players balance pro sports and motherhood
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Red Stars are following the lead of another National Women's Soccer League club in teaming up with a fertility clinic - a groundbreaking partnership that will provide players with services including egg freezing and storage, and other fertility testing.
CBS 2's Jackie Kostek spoke to Red Stars defender Arin Wright, who advocated for this after becoming a mother herself.
As a veteran defender for the Red Stars, Wright isn't afraid to make an unexpected cut.
"Since there was not a lot of people that had done it, there wasn't really a clear pathway that I had. So I was like, I'm going to take a gamble," she said.
For Wright and her husband, that gamble meant throwing out the prescribed timeline of when a professional athlete can become a mother.
"We decided, let's not time it. Let's just kind of see, roll the dice and see what happens," she said.
Wright got pregnant in 2019, and missed the last few games of the season, but not the next, because of pandemic cancellations. While Wright said the timing couldn't have worked out better, the transition to motherhood was by no means easy on her body.
"It's almost like this bionic body that's not really mine, but is mine now. So I'm having to reinvent myself and teach myself, because my stride is different, the way I strike the ball is different. There's so many different elements to the way that I play the game that I've had to reteach myself," she said.
Her schedule is different too.
"Figuring out, does daycare work? Does having a personal sitter at home work? It's a lot of communication with my staff, a lot more than I've ever had to have, being like, 'Hey, can I come early for treatment, or can I stay late? I know you're not supposed to be in in these hours, but can we make this work?' So that I can have my body in the best possible shape it needs to be to then do my job" she said.
Wright said she's learning through trial and error and in the process, leading by example, sharing her blueprint and advocating for women to have a choice in if/when and how they start a family.
"Our lifespan in this job is going all the way up to 40 years old, and I'm sure it'll continue. Hopefully it will go up even farther, But with that now comes, 'Okay well how, I shouldn't have to choose between having a family and I shouldn't have to choose between doing my job. I should be able to do them both,'" she said.
That choice was bolstered by a groundbreaking new partnership between the Red Stars and Fertility Centers of Illinois, which provides players with free access to a full range of fertility services - something Wright said most NWSL players wouldn't be able to afford.
"Having the option for women to freeze their eggs, and have the security, and not feel stressed by their biological clock, that 'Hey, I can't do my job. I need to go ahead and start a family,' will only elevate their game and be able to play with more freedom, because they know they have peace of mind in that aspect," she said.
