Stephens stated she had “no drawback being the guinea pig” when it got here to the process.
“I believe it was one thing that I all the time needed to do. My grandpa was an OBGYN [obstetrician-gynecologist] so it was one thing that we had all the time spoken about and it was a really open dialog,” she stated.
“Clearly I by no means knew how lengthy I’d play tennis. I by no means knew that I’d be among the best gamers on the planet.
“Household planning and being proactive and future planning isn’t scary. It is a very regular and pure factor.”
Two-time main winner Victoria Azarenka told BBC Sport in May that she wish to see maternity pay launched on the WTA Tour.
Quite a few moms have returned to tennis lately – maybe most notably Serena Williams, who reached 4 Grand Slam finals after having her first daughter, Olympia, in 2017.
The WTA’s present guidelines give returning moms three years to make use of a particular rating from the delivery of their little one.
Gamers getting back from a one-year medical absence or maternity depart could use their particular rating for seeding.
The governing physique of the ladies’s tour additionally offers maternal well being providers and schooling.
“Supporting athletes for over 50 years, the WTA boasts one of many strongest well being and wellness infrastructures in skilled ladies’s sports activities at present,” a WTA assertion offered to BBC Sport learn.
“With roughly 20 mothers presently competing, the WTA is dedicated to serving each participant’s distinctive well being journey and providing world-class maternal healthcare, insurance policies, advantages, and schooling.
“From medical academia analysis to the non-public sector, the Hologic WTA Ladies’s Well being Taskforce is presently working to collaboratively supply and consider additional advantages and insurance policies within the areas of fertility preservation, paid maternal depart, and childcare help, which align with the WTA’s requirements, ethics, integrity, equitable entry, and equity inside a aggressive atmosphere.”