Kirsty and Kristina Beauchais grew up on the same street, in the same small town in Maine. They attended the same high school, graduating three years apart. Yet somehow they never crossed paths until they were adults, connecting through Kristina’s older brother.
Call it a crazy twist of fate they can tell their children someday.
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Kristina is the Connecticut Sun’s manager of basketball operations, while Kirsty works in the Sun’s corporate partnerships division. They met after they were neighbors, but before they were coworkers.
Now married, they’re a shining example of how a progressive approach to family building — and a progressive workplace culture — can make an LGBTQ+ couple feel at home in the waiting room or the board room.
In an exclusive interview with Newsweek Sports, the couple discussed their fertility journey ahead of National Infertility Awareness Week (NIAW). The week coincides with the commencement of the WNBA preseason on April 25.
For years, the expectation in pro sports was that women had to step away from work to have children. As the most visible women’s professional sports league in North America, the WNBA was in the best position to change that.
So far, they have.
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“There’s a lot more children in the WNBA than ever,” Kirsty said. “More gay couples that have young kids. You see coaches. The stories are there if you look. There’s also a lot of adoption. The league understands there’s a lot of young women that want to be moms, on and off court, that are a part of organizations.”
Several WNBA players past and present have started families of their own while still active in the league. Kirsty and Kristina aren’t players, but they aren’t immune from the stressful, nonstop environment of working in professional sports.
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The couple married in March 2025 and immediately made plans to start a family, but faced challenges along the way. Knowing they would need fertility treatments to conceive, Kirsty and Kristina checked out one local clinic at the recommendation of their primary care provider. The questionnaire they received upon arrival was clearly written only for opposite-sex couples.
To find a more LGBTQ-friendly clinic, the Beauchais’ had to do their own research. The same-sex couples with children in their own social circles had become parents years ago, without access to today’s resources. Finding a clinic as progressive as their employer was not as straightforward as asking a friend.
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Their hectic work schedules were also limiting. Through their research, the Beauchais’ found Illume Fertility, which has multiple clinics throughout the tri-state area. Illume offered the convenience of booking appointments with in-network physicians at different times, and in different cities.
It so happened that Illume is also among the most LGBTQ-friendly fertility clinics around the world. (Its dedicated LGBTQ+ resource hub, Gay Parents to Be, supports this work.) From intake forms to clinical interactions, the Beauchais found that same-sex couples were treated no differently than opposite-sex couples.
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“It feels great to be in a medical setting and have that be the assumption,” Kirsty said.
Flash-forward to September 2025, when Kirsty and Kristina had a successful IUI cycle. They are expecting their first child this year. Their story is evidence that happy endings for same-sex couples in professional sports aren’t limited to a handful of stories for those who wear a uniform on the court.
For more WNBA news, visit Newsweek Sports.
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