Tennis champion Serena Williams recently celebrated her youngest daughter’s first birthday with a heartfelt series of social media posts.
Instead of giving fans online a glimpse at her second baby girl’s face, she gave fans another look into her second pregnancy.
In three separate updates, Serena shared stunning images from her maternity photo shoot, captured professionally before baby Adira was born in August 2023.
The images are nothing short of breathtaking and beautifully stylized. The first set of photos highlights the four-time Olympic gold medalist on her own, proudly showing off her baby bump.
She lovingly captioned the post, “A year ago today – August 15th – I gave birth to my second baby girl, Adira River Ohanian. She is a true light. Here’s a peek inside my maternity shoot.” She also tagged what appears to be an Instagram page solely for all things Adira, just like her first daughter had.
In the other two posts, Serena is joined by her family, including her husband, Alexis Ohanian and their 6-year-old daughter Alexis Olympia Ohanian.
In one post, Serena shared a thoughtful breakdown of her youngest daughter’s name, writing, “Adira is a girl’s name of Hebrew origin and means ‘mighty,’ ‘strong,’ and ‘majestic.’”
She continued, “The elegant name is popular in many cultures around the world. Adira is the feminine form of the classic name Adir. It is a Biblical name, meaning ‘Strong One.’”
The third post turned the spotlight on her elder daughter, as she embarks on her journey as a big sister. Serena shared, “Olympia is always there for me. Before having a second child, I always wondered, ‘how could I love anything as much as I love @olympiaohanian?’ Then Adira came along.”
“She is so special, so fun, so funny, so loving, so sweet and so strong!!!” she explained. “You see, God makes your heart get bigger. Because my love for Olympia has not dimmed. My heart simply now is doubled the size and I have a greater capacity to love more!”
However, fans couldn’t help but notice that baby Adira, who had just turned 1, was missing from the photos.
Followers quickly took to the comment section to express their curiosity, with one asking, “Where is Adira?” Another chimed in, “Where is this baby at? I am sitting here just as confused?”
A third fan added, “Love these pics. You and Baby girl are beautiful, but can we see the birthday girl?”
And yet another wondered, “It’s Adira’s birthday, but we have pictures of Olympia.”
The youngest of the Williams family was also missing in action in images from their recent family trips to New Orleans and Paris for the 2024 Olympics. However, when discussing an incident at a restaurant Serena noted that she was with her “kids.”
But the wave of recent comments prompted some fans to step in and defend Serena’s choice not to post pictures of Adira until she’s ready.
One person pointed out, “These comments are weird for sure,” while adding, “She doesn’t have to show her baby here. Anywho, happy bday to Adira. What a blessing.”
Although Serena didn’t explain why she opted not to share new pictures of Adira with her 17.3 million followers, this wasn’t the first time the world had seen her little one.
Adira’s dad previously posted a family photo on the day of Adira’s birth in 2023. The picture, which received over 249K likes, showed Serena without makeup, big sister Olympia playfully posing for the camera, and Alexis Sr. tenderly holding Adira, whose face was slightly hidden from view.
This makes me so happy pic.twitter.com/2aq5oiQK1G
— Serena Williams (@serenawilliams) November 28, 2023
The family exuded happiness in the photo, with Serena and Olympia both dressed in pink, celebrating the arrival of another baby girl. However, Serena’s journey to this moment had its ups and downs.
Many fans might recall the gender reveal party a few weeks prior to Adira’s birth when some observers thought Serena, who had hoped for a boy, momentarily showed her disappointment as the smoke announced the baby would be a girl.
But that feeling of disappointment didn’t last long. By the time Adira arrived, Serena’s heart was overflowing with love.
Adira has already made her mark as the daughter of a tennis legend and a tech innovator. Like her big sister, she’s part of history — her parents invested in her name into two sports teams, making her the youngest person to be an owner.
Serena’s posts radiate the immense love she has for both her daughters, reinforcing that her decision to keep certain moments private is rooted in personal reasons, not a preference for one child over the other.
