Retired U.S. women’s national team star Carli Lloyd and her husband Brian Hollins are expecting their first child after going through multiple rounds of in vitro fertilization. Lloyd announced her pregnancy on Instagram on Wednesday and said her baby is due in October.
“It has been a rollercoaster of a journey to get to this point,” Lloyd wrote. “We are beyond excited to be parents!”
Lloyd, a two-time World Cup winner and two-time Olympic gold medalist, played in 316 matches with the USWNT and scored 134 goals and 61 assists. Her decorated career includes scoring three goals in the U.S.’ win over Japan in the 2015 World Cup final.
In 2021, Lloyd retired at age 39 and transitioned to a career in broadcasting.
Lloyd detailed her pregnancy journey in a personal essay for Women’s Health magazine and said she always wanted to be a mom but didn’t think about it too much during her soccer career. After her retirement, she struggled to get pregnant and eventually began IVF treatments in April 2023.
“It was a waiting game that we literally had no control over,” Lloyd said in the essay. “And it’s hard. I felt all the emotions during my career — stress, worry, fear, anxiety — but I’d never felt all the emotions that IVF brought on. I felt completely out of control. It’s an indescribable roller coaster unless you go through it.”
Lloyd said she underwent three rounds of IVF before finding out in February that she was pregnant. She decided to share her story about her fertility issues “to show other women that it’s OK to struggle.”
“I’ve conquered the soccer world and I consider myself to be really strong, but I was at my weakest during this entire process,” Lloyd said. “It’s okay to feel broken and to feel hopeless, but to never give up and to keep going. … I went from feeling embarrassed, ashamed, and afraid to tell people that I was going through IVF to now wanting to share my story to help others.”
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(Photo: Dennis Schneidler / USA Today)
Daniel Miller is a sports fanatic who lives and breathes athletics. His coverage spans from major league championships to local sports events, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis for sports enthusiasts.
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