Spanish women footballers to receive help freezing their eggs

Spain’s women footballers could soon receive help freezing their eggs under an agreement the country’s football federation is negotiating with a fertility clinic.

Alexia Putellas revealed the plan in an interview with El País. “For me, it’s an enormous step forward that the federation understands you serve your country in conflict with your biological clock,” she said.

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For me, it’s an enormous step forward that the federation understands you serve your country in conflict with your biological clock.

The arrangement would give players representing Spain at national-team level the option to preserve their fertility while continuing to pursue goals such as reaching a World Cup. Putellas said playing in a World Cup is very important, but players who want to become mothers can struggle to reconcile that ambition with their careers.

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It’s very important for a player to experience a World Cup, but it means that those of us who want to become mothers have difficulty making it work.

The agreement is still being finalized, and the details are expected to be made public in the second half of September. The Spanish federation, RFEF, has not yet communicated officially on the matter. It remains unclear what the agreement would cover, which players would qualify, or what would happen if a player retired early or had children by other means.

The proposal has prompted mixed reactions in Spain. Former Real Sociedad captain Larraitz Lucas called it an extremely important advance but said women should have more options to become mothers in their twenties and continue their professional careers, rather than freezing their eggs. Former Athletic Club player Eba Ferreira described the measure as a way to counter discrimination in sport, where women may have to interrupt their careers to give birth while men do not.

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But I would also like there to be more options to become a mother in your twenties and then continue your professional career, instead of freezing your eggs.

The debate follows years of player-led pressure for better conditions in Spanish football. A large group of prominent players boycotted the national team in 2022 over training, preparation and recovery conditions. The dispute was temporarily resolved before the 2023 World Cup, then resurfaced after former federation president Luis Rubiales kissed a player without consent.

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A woman has to interrupt her sporting career to give birth, while a man does not have to.