Female football players across North America and around the world are increasingly vocal about motherhood. Many consider motherhood an important life milestone yet choose to postpone it because of fears, potential retaliation, or simply a lack of clear information. Their voices are rising now because the sport is evolving—women’s football is growing, expanding opportunities, and reshaping what a professional career in the game can look like. Motherhood represents a profound challenge that players anticipate as they navigate both sport and life.
Players want a seat at the table. They want their needs to be understood by leagues, federations, clubs, and officials alike. Amanda Gutiérrez, president of FutPro, notes that in football, the focus often lands on matches, schedules, and governance, leaving players feeling overlooked. The heroes on the field deserve policies that support family life as part of a sustainable career, she emphasizes.
In North America, there is a growing recognition that motherhood requires better information and clearer, fairer rules. Many professionals in the sport are thinking about motherhood, yet their understanding of it is limited. When stakeholders listened to players, they found gaps in knowledge about what motherhood actually entails and how it affects contracts, salaries, and career plans. FutPro, which largely represents women’s football, launched an initial study to address players’ concerns. The first step they took was to listen—asking directly what players fear, what worries them, and whether motherhood would force them to choose between family and professional commitments.
Study findings from the Spanish context, which have resonated globally, show that a sizable portion of professional players worry about pregnancy triggering retaliation from clubs. The conversation has evolved beyond Spain and into broader conversations about how clubs, regulators, and unions can better support players who choose to start families. The data highlights fears that contracts might be terminated or altered because of pregnancy, concerns about reduced salaries, and worries about discrimination during competition windows. These concerns underscore the need for a robust, clear maternity framework within professional contracts and league agreements.
No own regulations
The current landscape is not encouraging. In many national agreements governing women’s football, maternity provisions are either absent or insufficient. Advocates argue for a dedicated maternity protocol embedded in modern contracts, so that players facing pregnancy are supported rather than penalized. If a player becomes pregnant, there should be predictable costs and protections rather than ad hoc decisions by individual clubs. The right to maternity leave and pay should be grounded in national labor standards, but players also require explicit terms within their sport-specific contracts to avoid ambiguity.
At the moment, the only prominent safeguard within some collective agreements is a potential one-year contract renewal under identical terms when pregnancy occurs. The rights of pregnant players are also addressed by general labor codes, which grant leave and base salary protections, but these provisions need sport-specific interpretation so athletes can plan ahead with confidence and security.
Ultimately, federation and public authority policies still leave club-level decisions as the final word in practice. Many clubs admit they lack practical tools or protocols to support athletes through pregnancy and the postpartum period. Players and advocates therefore call for standardized guidance, shared best practices, and clear timelines so that clubs can respond consistently and fairly across situations.
Surveys indicate that a large majority of players see reconciliation between sport and family life as a shared responsibility. They believe clubs should implement concrete measures to help athletes balance training, competition, and family duties. This consensus points to a broader shift: players want systemic solutions, not case-by-case mercy or sporadic concessions.
Egg freezing as a potential option
While longer-term reforms are still being discussed, many players are exploring practical options today. For some, postponing motherhood while sustaining a high-performance career has led them to consider egg freezing as a viable option. Clinics note that age remains a key predictor of fertility, and the quantity and quality of eggs decline with time. Clinicians emphasize that fertility can be preserved through egg freezing, enabling players to focus on peak performance for as long as possible while keeping family plans on the table for later.
Experts caution that aging eggs can make conception more challenging and, in some cases, more complicated hormonal considerations may arise. The decision to freeze eggs often involves medical consultation and assessment of individual health, cycle regularity, and potential future needs. For athletes, the process can be scheduled during a period that minimizes disruption to training and competition schedules, allowing performance to remain unaffected during the year of the procedure.
The egg freezing process typically spans a couple of weeks and can be accommodated with minimal impact on training when properly planned. Costs vary by region and clinic, and prospective patients should obtain a clear breakdown of procedures, storage, and any ancillary services. While not a guaranteed solution, egg freezing offers a tangible option for players who wish to preserve fertility while pursuing elite sport.