Mothers on the Pitch: Redefining the Game
The National Women's Soccer League has hit a historic milestone: a record number of active mothers are on rosters this season, signaling a cultural shift that is reshaping how the league views pregnancy, postpartum recovery and parenting.
Kailen Sheridan, the North Carolina Courage goalkeeper, arrived at a recent match with her toddler Sky in tow, a visual reminder of the new normal. Sheridan’s partner gave birth to their daughter Skyler Rae in 2025 after a co‑IVF cycle in which Sheridan’s eggs were retrieved, fertilised and screened before a single embryo was transferred.
The hormonal regimen that precedes egg retrieval left Sheridan feeling nauseous, but she was back on the training field just days later. While the physical recovery was swift, the financial and emotional costs remain steep, especially given that IVF success rates for women under 35 hover around 41 percent in the United Kingdom, according to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Ash Neville, a right‑back with Leicester City in the Women's Super League, and her partner Lisa turned to a donor‑matching app to locate sperm. Their search was fraught with unsuitable candidates, but eventually they secured a donor who helped them welcome two daughters through at‑home insemination, a process they documented with an ovulation tracker.
Across the globe, Australian midfielder Tameka Yallop faced a different set of hurdles. Because lesbian couples have limited access to publicly funded fertility treatment, she and her partner Kirsty pursued private IVF, enduring eight cycles before a 25 percent chance finally yielded their second child, Nova, born earlier this year.
Shanice van de Sanden and her partner Tatjiana found a donor through a marketing campaign tied to van de Sanden’s professional work. After a series of psychological assessments, clinic appointments and hormone treatments, the pair welcomed their first child in November 2023 and a second in 2025, each pregnancy tracked closely with clinic‑based monitoring.
The broader implications extend beyond individual stories. In 2021, FIFA and FIFPRO introduced a minimum 14‑week paid maternity leave, while the Professional Footballers' Association partnered with Care Fertility to provide education and support. These initiatives reflect a growing recognition that motherhood and elite sport can coexist, but they also underscore the need for consistent, accessible care.
As more players navigate the intersection of career and family, the experiences of Sheridan, Neville, Yallop and van de Sanden are helping to rewrite the narrative, proving that the pitch can accommodate the next generation of mothers without forcing a choice between ambition and parenthood.