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Serena Explains Why She Won’t Celebrate Daughter’s Birthdays

By | Published on August 29, 2018
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Serena Williams and husband Alexis Ohanian‘s baby girl turns a year old in a few weeks, but the couple doesn’t plan on throwing their daughter a birthday bash.

Williams has been extremely open about being a Jehovah’s Witness and not participating in any celebrations. During a U.S. Open tournament press conference on Saturday, the tennis athlete stated, “Olympia doesn’t celebrate birthdays. … We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, so we don’t do that.”

Serena Williams

(photo credit: Serena’s Instagram”

The mother of one said her husband has been supportive of her religious faith. She told Vogue in 2017, “Alexis didn’t grow up going to any church, but he’s really receptive and even takes the lead. He puts my needs first.”

Williams explained that “being a Jehovah’s Witness” is important to her, although she’s never devotedly practiced the belief. However, she says that her faith is something she’s “been wanting to get into.”

The denomination’s official website JW.Org, stated that Jehovah’s Witnesses “do not celebrate birthdays because we believe that such celebrations displease God.” The faith also believes that birthdays stem from pagan roots and were created from folklore.

Williams and Ohanian welcomed their daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian to the world in September 2017.

Williams wrote a heartwarming message to Olympia last November and shared it on Twitter, “There are so many reasons to quit, but even more to keep playing. Even if you don’t go pro, sports can teach you so much. So keep playing.”

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