Courtesy: WTA
In a groundbreaking move for women's sports, the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) has unveiled a comprehensive maternity benefit program, offering up to 12 months of paid maternity leave to its players. This initiative, which will be effective retroactively from January 1, 2025, is funded by Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF) and marks a significant advancement in supporting female athletes balancing professional careers and motherhood.
The program provides 12 months of paid leave for players who are pregnant and two months for those becoming parents through partner pregnancy, surrogacy, or adoption. Additionally, it offers grants for fertility treatments, including egg freezing and in vitro fertilization (IVF). Eligibility requires players to have competed in a minimum of eight WTA tournaments in the previous 12 months or 24 over the previous 36 months.
In all walks of life, people have family: Former Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka
It is for the first time that such benefits are available to independent and self-supported athletes, as for the once in tennis. The WTA CEO Portia Archer recently spoke about the positive impact of this initiative labelling it as novel and groundbreaking. She said, “Independent contractors and self-employed individuals don’t typically have these kinds of maternity benefits provided and available to them. They have to go out and sort of figure out those benefits for themselves.”
Two-time grand-slam champion Victoria Azarenka spoke to one of the hosts on CNN Sports, saying that this move by the WTA was a game-changing moment. The Belarusian tennis player who gave birth to her son in 2016, was out of action for quite some time. She said, “In all walks of life, people have family and I think it’s a very important conversation to bring to the table.”
