Wimbledon star married to ex-Premier League striker ready to be egg-freezing 'guinea pig'
A Grand Slam champion wants players' rankings to be protected if they opt to freeze their eggs.
American Wimbledon star Sloane Stephens has claimed that she has “no problem being the guinea pig” as she called for the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to protect players’ rankings while going through the process of freezing their eggs.
The 2017 US Open champion has been a leading voice championing players on the tour who are planning to have a family in the future, through harvesting and freezing of eggs so that they can have children at a later date.
WTA rules state that new mothers are able to use their previous ranking to enter 12 tournaments over a three-year period from the birth of their child, but Stephens wants a similar consideration for female players in order to help them freeze their eggs without damaging their careers.
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The 31-year-old, who is married to former Premier League striker Jozy Altidore, explained that tennis players have to schedule their family planning which often has to take place after retirement.
"People put it off because they don't want to miss work,” she told BBC Radio 5 Live. “We are all independent contractors and we're basically just on our own if you do get pregnant or you decide to freeze your eggs.
"It would be super helpful for a lot of girls because it would make it a lot less scary. More people would do it and be proactive about it because they wouldn't feel the pressure to come back to the sport right away if they weren't ready.”
Stephens first went through the egg-freezing process herself in 2022 and will do so again at the end of the season, but wanted to highlight the mental and physical effects on women who are then determined to get back on the court.
“They put you to sleep and they actually take the eggs out,” she described. “It's a very involved process and I don't think people understand that," Stephens added. "I think the overall consensus of it is that it's very easy and very simple, but it's just not.
"It is difficult but if you want to have a family, if you want to continue to be successful in the career that you love and then also have a family and be a mum one day, you shouldn't have to fight one for the other."
Stephens has previously said that she is fighting for a protected ranking through the WTA Player’s Council, while also asking for better maternity leave, but admitted that getting real change is a slow-burning process and patience has been needed to help players who wish to freeze their eggs and have a family one day.
