Photo: Lia Clay
Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo is opening up about the devastating miscarriage she experienced, and the challenges she’s had at expanding her family with husband Jerramy Stevens.
In a wide-ranging interview forthe July issue ofElle,the former U.S Women’s National Soccer Team goalkeeper, 37, reveals that she had suffered the loss back in February 2018, while running for president of the United States Soccer Federation (USFF).
At the time, Solo and Stevens hadbeen trying for awhileto get pregnant. A week after miscarrying, Solo — still in a lot of pain — went to the doctor where she learned that she’d actually been pregnant with twins. (One of the eggs was considered an ectopic pregnancy, she explains.)
“The doctor said I was hours from dying,” she tellsElle. “They ended up having to remove my fallopian tube.”
A week later, Solo was in an Orlando, Florida, ballroom for the election. Her final move in her campaign was an unsparing speech in front of the delegation, in which she once again reiterated her stance on the importance of equal pay and working conditions for female and male players. (“A vote for [the establishment candidates] is a vote for the status quo: disunity, discord, and more failure,” she was quoted inElleas saying.)
“I didn’t expect to win, but I knew my voice was important,” Solo explains,looking back on the moment. “That speech took a lot. Even before all that, it would have taken courage.”
Hope Solo.Lia Clay
Solo went on to land in last place in the election, with reigning vice president Carlos Cordeiro taking the top spot.
None of that has stopped Solo. She’s continued to be outspoken on her topic, and even filed a federal lawsuit against the USSF in August 2018 after a gender discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) came to a standstill.
“I don’t like anyone telling me how I’m supposed to feel or think or what I’m supposed to say,” Solo says. “If I had meekly accepted what others told me, my life would be radically different … I would have viewed myself as a failure.”
As for her hopes of having a child, she’s moving towards that goal as well. Solo has begun the process of in vitro fertilization, she tellsElle.
And as tough as it’s been, Solo remains strong, as she has through many obstacles in her life.
“We see life and death very often,” Solo says, as she describes having to put animals downon her Greensboro, North Carolina, homewhen they get hurt, or her past experience of dealing with wildfires and coyotes. “So much of what we do can be catastrophic if we make mistakes. It’s not for the faint of heart.”
source: people.com
