Martina Navratilova Shares Harsh Take on Surrogacy In Since-Deleted Post

The 68-year-old athlete and star of The Real Housewives of Miami weighed in on the hot-button issue in a now-deleted post shared via X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Surrogacy is just wrong. Sometimes you can’t have it all.”

Though the original post has since been removed, a screenshot circulated widely on July 13, thanks to a fan account, reigniting the debate online.

While some applauded her for standing firm in her views, others were quick to point out what they saw as a contradiction, especially given that Navratilova and wife Julia Lemigova recently expanded their family through adoption.

The couple officially adopted two young boys last year, and many fans questioned how Navratilova could denounce “alternative” paths to parenthood while embracing one herself.

Navratilova has yet to publicly respond to the criticism surrounding her since-deleted tweet, but it isn’t the first time the tennis legend has raised eyebrows with comments about surrogacy.

In August 2024, Navratilova compared it to Margaret Atwood’s dystopian world in The Handmaid‘s Tale, tweeting via X: “Surrogacy is straight out of Handmaid’s Tale.”

She later added in a follow-up tweet: “I don’t agree with surrogacy, regardless of who is doing it. But nice try tying to make it personal…”

It was that same month that Navratilova and Lemigova had adopted two boys, marking Navratilova’s first experience as a parent, although Lemigova has children from prior relationships.

Navratilova and Lemigova tied the knot in December 2014 after dating for several years, and their parenting aspirations have been spotlighted on the show, particularly in Season 5, when Lemigova expressed her dream of adopting.

Those plans were temporarily put on pause after Navratilova was diagnosed with breast and throat cancer in January 2023.

“When you’re adopting a child, it has to be about the child. Right now, it’s everything about Martina, and for her [to be] getting healthy,” Lemigova explained during the show’s reunion special. “We’re putting it on hold. … Instead, we are fighting two cancers.”

Navratilova later shared in March 2023 that she was cancer-free. Since then, Lemigova has provided fans with hopeful updates, telling Bravo in February: “We’re definitely at our high. Martina is healthy. We’re renewing our plans for the adoption and maybe we’ll get a happy call anytime. … [I’m] just living life at [the] fullest and I don’t think of tomorrow, I think of only today.”