I took three pregnancy tests

Sheryl Swoopes was the face of the WNBA when the league started in 1997. The Hall of Fame player was 26 years old when she was drafted by the Houston Comets for the inaugural season.

However, before she took the court for the first time, Swoopes found out that she was pregnant. In a segment of TEDx Talks in June 2022, she discussed the challenge of being a pregnant athlete. Swoopes said that when she found out she was pregnant, she felt like she was guilty of letting everyone down.

“The first thing was, I took three pregnancy tests at home because I didn’t believe it. I was like, ‘No,’ like I couldn’t, because I was traveling, I was playing, I was all over the place. … It wasn’t the matter of I was gonna have the baby or not, it was more about, ‘Oh my goodness, like what’s gonna happen.’

“I was the first player signed, so I felt like I was just letting down a lot of people. The WNBA was just getting ready to start, Nike had come out with a shoe … So, I was like, what’s gonna happen because it had never been done before.” [2:20]

Swoopes took the court for the first time in her rookie season, just seven weeks after delivering her son. She played only nine games in the season and two in the playoffs but won her first title.

Overall, she won four WNBA titles with the Comets, as well as three MVPs and three Defensive Player of the Year awards.

Sheryl Swoopes contrasts her struggles of motherhood as an athlete with male players

One of the most important issues Sheryl Swoopes highlighted in her interview was the difference between male and female athletes. After remarking how NBA players skipping games makes bigger news than women giving birth, she recounted her experience of playing while also breastfeeding her son.

Swoopes said she also struggled “mentally and emotionally” and even questioned her decision to play in the league.

“I had no idea besides me gaining 60 pounds … how that was going to affect me, not just physically, but mentally and emotionally, because it does. … I’ve always been a competitor, right, like good enough is not good enough.

“I always wanted to be great, so I would say to myself, will you be able to come back and not just compete, but be able to come back and be the best and compete with some of the best players out there and so I had no idea.”

She continued:

“That 50-60 pounds I gained, I mean, I’m running around stuff is moving that never moved before. … I remember I’m breastfeeding so I go in the locker room before the team does so I can breastfeed my son during a game … then I give him back to either his grandma or to his dad but when I say mentally and emotionally draining, those are things that male athletes don’t have to think about.” [6:15]

Dearica Hamby’s federal lawsuit against her former team, Las Vegas Aces, and WNBA highlights the issue of how pregnancy among female athletes is still viewed. Hamby’s lawsuit alleged “hostile and discriminatory remarks” from her former head coach Becky Hammon. She also alleged a “notable” change in her employment with the Aces.