Two of soccer's biggest names are celebrating an addition to their family.
Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger are on both the Orlando Pride and the US Women's National Team. The talented soccer players first met in 2010 at a USWNT training camp. It would be some time before they came out publicly. In 2019, the two tied the knot in a beautiful wedding at the Vizcaya Museum and Gardens in Miami.
Since then, the two have openly discussed the possibility of having children and the real concerns they had about impacts on their careers. They always made it clear they wanted to have a child when the time was right, and it seems that time has finally come. On February 14, they announced that they've adopted a baby girl, Sloane Phillips.
Ashlyn Harris and Ali Krieger have one of the most heartwarming love stories in all of sports. The two talented soccer stars met in 2010 at a USWNT training camp. They hit it off and quickly became friends, later starting a romantic relationship. It would be some time before they were out to the public.
Ashlyn and Ali tied the knot in late 2019 after nearly 10 years of dating. They said their "I dos" in a luxe, weekend-long wedding in Miami with their loved ones on December 28. It was a beautiful and emotional wedding for their attendees and the beginning of a beautiful journey for the couple.
In an interview with Allure in July 2020, Ashlyn and Ali celebrated the life they had and looked forward to the future.
"We talk about having kids a lot. The unfortunate part is someone's going to have to give in their career," Ashlyn said at the time.
"Which is not fair. Because we both love our jobs and have waited our whole lives for these moments. Just taking a year off … where does that fit in? I can't even take a weekend off."
"We've talked about surrogates, we've talked about adoption, and it's just really tough because what — are we going to take the child everywhere? I mean, we've been home for seven days in the last three months," Ashlyn continued.
"We have a lot of moms [on the team]," Ali noted.
"When we're traveling, we carry the stroller, and the [diaper] bag and then she's carrying the baby, or we're carrying the baby and she's getting all the stuff."
In November 2020, fans noticed Ali and Ashlyn weren't on the USWNT's November training camp roster. They also didn't appear on the February SheBelieves Cup 23-player roster. They both appear on the Opening Day 2021 roster for Orlando Pride. Now we know why some of those schedule changes may have been made.
On February 14, the couple announced the arrival of their daughter, Sloane Phillips. She was born on February 12. Both women shared the exciting news on Instagram with a letter to their little girl's birth mom.
"Dear Birth Mom Our promise to you," they wrote.
"We promise Sloane will be loved every single day by us, our friends and our family. We promise to give her the tools to live a happy, successful life of inclusivity and support. We promise to share her adoption story with her from the very beginning and celebrate every milestone! We promise to encourage her to follow her dreams no matter how big or small. We promise to be open minded and respect your wishes to have future communication and that she will always know how much you love her!"
Then each shared their own personal message. "To My Wife," Ashlyn wrote.
"My heart is exploding with Joy. We did it, baby! All of the ups and downs, tears, stress and anxiety was worth it to have this beautiful blessing in our arms. We are building what we’ve always dreamt of. You both are my everything and I promise to always do right by the both of you. I love you so much."
"Welcome to our family, Sloane Phillips," Ali wrote.
"We are so in love with you already! This has been one of the most beautiful yet stressful processes I've ever experienced with you, @ashlynharris24 and I love you even more throughout this journey, if that's even possible.
"When we first dated, we always spoke about adoption and always wanted to give a child a loving, happy and stable home. I cannot wait to give her the world and be the best Mom I can be with you right by my side❤️."
Both Ashlyn and Ali also thanked their support system for helping them through this process.
"THANK YOU to our wonderful family, our best of friends, agency, teammates and coaches who have supported us fully through this process and now we are SO PROUD to finally share her with the world! YOU GUYS.. and then there were FIVE!" she wrote.
"This is the best Valentine’s Day gift we’ve ever received! ."
