Serena Williams has now become a mother to two children. On August 22nd, Serena and her husband Alexis Ohanian offered a brief peek into their lives as a family of four.
Alexis expressed, “Meet Adira River Ohanian. I’m happy to announce that our home is filled with love: a joyful and healthy newborn daughter and a joyful and healthy mom.”
Continuing, Alexis expressed his gratitude and said, “Feeling thankful. @serenawilliams, you’ve bestowed upon me yet another unmatched gift — you’re the greatest mother of all time, GMOAT. Many thanks to the exceptional medical team who looked after my wife and our daughter. I’ll always cherish the moment I introduced @olympiaohanian to her new baby sister.”
The thrilling announcement about the arrival of their second daughter comes four months after they initially disclosed their pregnancy. Serena Williams, when discussing her choice to reveal her pregnancy at the Met Gala, also shared her reason for keeping the news from her 5-year-old daughter Olympia.
In a video posted on YouTube, Serena clarified, “Right now, Olympia isn’t aware that I’m expecting, so the grand revelation will happen at the Met Gala, and just before we depart, I’ll share the news with Olympia.”
The reason she didn’t reveal it to her young daughter until making it public is quite relatable and something most parents can understand. Serena elaborated, saying, “I haven’t told her because she’s not great at keeping secrets.” However, now Olympia has wholeheartedly embraced her role as a big sister.
At the Met Gala, Serena looked stunning in a black and white outfit adorned with numerous pearls, where she and her husband, Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian, shared the exciting news.
The couple later disclosed that they were expecting their second daughter following a gender reveal celebration, during which they used drones to announce the news to all the attendees.
In a YouTube video where she shared the exciting news, Serena openly admitted her preference for a girl and playfully mentioned her unease, saying, “I’m on team girl, and I’m a little nervous because I don’t have a backup plan if it turns out to be a boy.” The theme of the party was “Our Next Great Adventure.”
Before the drone show, Alexis managed to maintain the surprise from Serena, who had entrusted him with this task. He shared with the camera, “I’m doing this to have a little fun with her and Olympia, making them think this is the reveal for Jelly Bean. She’ll cut into this cake, probably be a bit disappointed, and hopefully, she’ll appreciate my little prank. But, we’ll see.”
Serena showed her good-natured side by playfully smashing a slice of yellow cake into Alexis’s face. Alexis then addressed the gathering, saying, “We’re about to reveal Jelly Bean’s gender. However, we’re going to do it with some flair and a dazzling display of lights.”
That’s when the drone show commenced, and in the night sky appeared the word they had been eagerly anticipating: “Girl.” Absolutely brilliant!
Adira’s birth follows Serena Williams’ permanent retirement from tennis. Serena shared in Vogue that over the past year, she and Alexis had been working on expanding their family. She received reassuring news from her doctor, which made her feel that they could grow their family whenever they were ready.
She emphasized, “I certainly don’t want to be pregnant again while actively competing as an athlete. I need to be fully committed to tennis or fully focused on something else.”
Previously, Serena Williams had candidly discussed her initial childbirth experience in a personal essay she penned for ELLE magazine.
In 2022, she recounted the harrowing incident when she took charge of her own well-being after the birth of her daughter, Olympia. Williams went on to explain how her body had primarily been geared towards tennis before Olympia, but motherhood had transformed her perspective, stating that “the rules of the game have changed significantly for me.”
Serena Williams reflected on her long-standing association with tennis, stating, “My body has been dedicated to tennis for a significant portion of my life. I’ve endured every conceivable injury, and I’m intimately familiar with my body.” She went on to describe how her body had already begun its transition away from tennis when she discovered she was pregnant, just two days before the 2017 Australian Open.
She also shared her feelings about the period after giving birth, mentioning that it wasn’t until she actually met her baby, Olympia, that she felt a genuine connection. Serena admitted, “I was anxious about meeting my baby. Throughout my pregnancy, I hadn’t experienced that strong bond with her.”
“While I cherished the experience of being pregnant, I never had that incredible ‘Oh my God, this is my baby’ moment. It’s not something people usually discuss because there’s this expectation that we’re supposed to instantly fall in love. Sure, I was fiercely protective of my baby from the start, like a lioness, but I didn’t have that overwhelming emotional connection. I kept waiting for it during pregnancy, but it never quite happened. Some of my friends who are mothers told me they didn’t feel that deep connection in the womb either, which brought me some comfort, but I still longed for it.”
Serena Williams has previously shared her challenging childbirth experience. In her essay, she recalls the chaotic delivery room, with meetings happening around her, and her strong desire for “calm, reassuring guidance.” Eventually, her doctor made the decision that she would have a C-section, which Serena describes as a relief.
“Being an athlete often involves controlling your body and harnessing its power, but it’s also about knowing when to surrender. I was content and relieved to surrender in that moment; the energy in the room shifted dramatically. We went from this intense, seemingly never-ending process to having a clear plan for bringing our baby into the world.”
In fact, Serena’s post-birth experience led her to reclaim control in her situation. She points out that in the United States, Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth than white women, and many of these deaths could be prevented.
“Being listened to and receiving appropriate care meant the difference between life and death for me. I believe those statistics would change if the medical establishment truly listened to the experiences of every Black woman.”
Serena goes on to describe how none of the nurses in her presence were truly attentive to her until she was able to speak with her doctor and request a CAT scan of her lungs after multiple surgeries.
“I fought vigorously, and I eventually got the CAT scan. I’m profoundly grateful for her,” she writes. “As it turns out, I had a blood clot in my lungs, and they needed to insert a filter into my veins to break up the clot before it reached my heart.”
