Pregancy Is Perilous For Female Basketball Stars
By Melissa Silverstein 

The Women’s National Basketball League celebrates its 10th anniversary this summer, and with 14 teams, the league’s doubters have been silenced. But each season fans wonder about the absence of a stalwart player or two normally on each team’s roster. Retirement? Injury? No, not necessarily.

The missing players — stars like DeMya Walker and Marie Ferdinand — may be pregnant or have recently given birth, one of the realities of the WNBA and other women’s professional leagues. Seeing athletes play out their postpartum weight loss on national TV offers an up-close view of what it takes to get back into game shape. Houston Comets star Sheryl Swoopes is proof it can be done. She has been named MVP a record three times since having her son Jordan 10 years ago.

The athletes of the WNBA are the best of the best, and their league has a supportive pregnancy policy. Not every athlete is so lucky. Take Darnellia Russell, a high school player in a new documentary about a girls’ basketball team from Seattle.

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