Serena Williams reveals reason why she won't celebrate baby Olympia's upcoming birthday

Despite marking every milestone in her daughter's young life, Serena Williams has decided she will not be celebrating her daughter's first birthday. The tennis superstar spoke about this during a recent interview at the US Open where she reveals the deep reason behind her decision.

Serena Williams’ daughter Olympia is turning one on September 1 and the tennis superstar just confirmed she won’t be celebrating the milestone in any way. The doting mom who’s currently busy earning a title at the US Open recently said “Olympia doesn’t celebrate birthdays” and revealed the reason why.

Since welcoming her daughter almost a year ago, Serena and her husband Alexis Ohanian has been celebrating every milestone leading to her first year. Be it a small step or a giant leap, Olympia’s firsts have been well documented on her parents’ social media pages and her own account they created for her.

Now that she’s turning one, fans are surprised to learn there won’t be any fanfare to celebrate it. According to her mother during an interview at the US Open, her religion prohibits her from celebrating Olympia’s birthday.

‘We’re Jehovah’s Witnesses, so we don’t do that."

In 2017, Serena spoke openly to Vogue about being a Jehova’s Witness. She confessed it was an important part of her though she never really practiced it. She also expressed her intention to be more observant of its practices.

Now it seems Serena is taking her intentions to heart as she adheres to one of its most basic rules – never to celebrate birthdays. According to JW.Org, birthdays are not celebrated because such festivities “have pagan roots.” They believe that birthday celebrations lure evil spirits and provide an opportunity for them to attack the celebrant. Friends and good wishes during the celebration are supposed to help protect the celebrant. Moreover, early Christians did not believe in celebrating birthdays and instead only commemorate death – like that of Jesus.

Serena’s husband is not Jehovah’s Witness but his lack of religious upbringing makes him comfortable giving in to Serena’s wishes not to have a party for their daughter. In the past, Serena’s religion also played a big part in Alexis’ decision to marry her. He told Vanity Fair that despite being forbidden by her religion to greet Alexis on his birthday, Serena took it upon herself to give him a call and greet him on his birthday. This flexibility Serena showed in adhering to her religion made Alexis appreciate her more, making him realize she was the woman he wanted to marry.

Serena may not be celebrating her daughter’s birthday, but she’s making sure every day is a special moment with her. Just recently, she spent quality time with her daughter while gearing up for the US Open. She shared a photo of the two of them in an alley, just relishing their time together. The photo showed Serena multi-tasking, getting some workout flexing her legs while tending to her daughter. it was proof of her devotion to balance her time as a tennis pro and a mother.