Cousins! Congratulations are in order for Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian as their family has officially welcomed another baby girl!
Serena and Alexis revealed the big news on both TikTok and Instagram Tuesday afternoon with a video clip and a series of photos. The now viral shows the tennis superstar leaving the table where her husband and eldest daughter Olympia were sitting as Serena returned with their bundle of joy.
Alexis took to social media with a sweet message of his own as he spoke about how proud he is of Serena and the unforgettable moment he introduced his daughters to one another.
“Welcome, Adira River Ohanian. I’m grateful to report our house is teaming with love: a happy & healthy newborn girl and happy & healthy mama. Feeling grateful.”
Alexis tweet continued, “@serenawilliams you’ve now given me another incomparable gift — you’re the GMOAT. Thanks to all the amazing medical staff who took care of my wife & our daughter.”
“I’ll never forget the moment I introduced. @olympiaohanian to her baby sister.
He added, “Your peace would have been like a river, your well-being like the waves of the sea.”
Back in 2017 in a written essay for Elle Magazine, Serena declared that she was taking a break from tennis to focus on her family. The legendary athlete also spoke candidly about her first pregnancy and the health challenges she faced.
Serena wrote that the following day after she delivered Olympia through C-section that she had experienced a numbing pain within her legs. She says that she began to fear that she had a blood clot in her lungs.
The Michigan native says that she informed hospital staff members of her concerns but was ultimately ignored. “No one was really listening to what I was saying.”
She wrote that after continually informing hospital staff, a nurse called her doctor who then agreed to have her concerns checked out. Serena was confirmed to have several blood clots and needed multiple surgeries.
Serena’s essay pushed forward awareness surrounding U.S medical health and how Black women are nearly three times more likely to die during or after childbirth as opposed to white women.
“Many of these deaths are considered by experts to be preventable,” Williams wrote. “Being heard and appropriately treated was the difference between life or death for me; I know those statistics would be different if the medical establishment listened to every Black woman’s experience.”
Serena revealed that she learned in 2010 that she had blood clots in her lungs, “ever since then, I’ve lived in fear of them returning. It wasn’t a one-off; I’m at high risk for blood clots.”