Background and Objective

As the visibility and acceptance of athlete-mothers increase, so does the number of women athletes considering parenthood. Yet, many athletes struggle with the decision to become a parent while competing at the elite level due to the significant changes and uncertainties that have been reported by pregnant and parenting athletes. The experiences of women athletes considering parenthood are under-represented in the vast sport literature but are necessary for developing evidenced-based policies and practices that can support women’s equitable participation in high-performance sport contexts. Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the experiences of elite women athletes that are considering parenthood.

Methods

Participants were ten elite North American athletes (29–36 years) who are considering becoming parents in the next 5 years. Each participant self-identified as a woman and competed at the highest level in their respective sport. Data were generated via one-on-one semi-structured interviews that were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed through a process of content analysis.

Results

The experiences of elite women athletes considering parenthood are represented by five themes: (a) calls for essential mandates and leadership, (b) how do you support yourself?, (c) hesitation of body changes, (d) age inequities, and (e) being proactive about reproductive health. Such findings support an in-depth understanding of gender-specific stressors that limit women’s equitable participation in high-performance contexts.

Conclusion

This research is grounded in the voices of elite women athletes and identifies actionable steps necessary for research and culture change. Findings provide necessary evidence to inform the development of sport policies to support those athletes that are considering becoming parents.

中文翻译：

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“现实吗？”：对优秀女运动员考虑为人父母的经历的定性研究

背景和目的

随着运动员母亲的知名度和接受度的提高，考虑成为父母的女运动员数量也在增加。然而，由于怀孕和育儿运动员报告的重大变化和不确定性，许多运动员在参加精英级别比赛时难以做出成为父母的决定。女运动员考虑为人父母的经历在大量的体育文献中并未得到充分体现，但对于制定支持妇女公平参与高水平体育运动的循证政策和实践来说，这是必要的。因此，这项定性研究的目的是描述正在考虑为人父母的精英女运动员的经历。

方法

参与者是 10 名北美精英运动员（29-36 岁），他们考虑在未来 5 年内成为父母。每位参与者都自我认同为女性，并在各自的运动中表现出最高水平。数据是通过一对一的半结构化访谈生成的，这些访谈被录音、逐字转录，并通过内容分析过程进行分析。

结果

考虑为人父母的精英女运动员的经历由五个主题代表：(a) 呼吁必要的授权和领导力，(b) 你如何养活自己？，(c) 对身体变化的犹豫，(d) 年龄不平等，以及 ( e) 积极主动地关注生殖健康。这些发现支持深入了解限制女性公平参与高绩效环境的特定性别压力源。

结论

这项研究以精英女运动员的声音为基础，并确定了研究和文化变革所需的可行步骤。研究结果为制定体育政策提供了必要的证据，以支持那些正在考虑成为父母的运动员。