Alexis Ohanian discusses the gender of his second child with Serena Williams
In an interview with broadcast journalist Chris Wallace, Ohanian said he’s “convinced” he and Williams are expecting another girl.
Once a “girl dad,” always a girl dad? Alexis Ohanian believes that may be his destiny, as he and wife Serena Williams prepare for the birth of their second child.
“I’m convinced I’m gonna be a girl dad,” he said during Friday’s episode of the HBO Max and CNN series “Who’s Talking to Chris Wallace?” in response to Wallace’s query about the gender of their unborn child (h/t People magazine). While admitting he and Williams do not know the gender, Ohanian predicted that “…even if we have you know, 50 more kids they’re all going to be girls.”
The couple made the “big reveal” of their second pregnancy on the carpet of the 2023 Met Gala on May 1, simultaneously debuting Williams’ baby bump via Instagram as she posed in a formfitting gown and cropped jacket by Gucci. Williams later explained they’d chosen to share the news with daughter Alexis Olympia immediately before the gala because she “can’t keep a secret.”
The Williams-Ohanians aren’t taking any such chances with their new baby’s gender, choosing to keep it a secret from even themselves. While it remains to be seen whether the family’s newest member further cements Ohanian’s girl-dad status, Williams, who stepped back from tennis last year to expand their family and other business interests, is clearly ready for her next phase.
“These days, if I have to choose between building my tennis résumé and building my family, I choose the latter,” she wrote in an op-ed for Vogue last August. In the same essay, she disclosed that Olympia’s oft-whispered wish was to be a big sister — and the 5-year-old “doesn’t want anything to do with a boy!”
Admitting the choice was painful, Williams reflected on how motherhood fueled her “evolving away from tennis” (and breaking that elusive Grand Slam record).
“I went from a C-section to a second pulmonary embolism to a Grand Slam final. I played while breastfeeding. I played through postpartum depression,” she wrote. “I definitely don’t want to be pregnant again as an athlete. I need to be two feet into tennis or two feet out.”
“I’m not going to lie — I definitely have a lot of support. But I’m also an incredibly hands-on mother,” Williams continued. “The fact is that nothing is a sacrifice for me when it comes to Olympia. It all just makes sense.”
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