Olympic figure skating partners and real-life couple Chris and Alexa Knierim are expecting their first child!
On Sunday, March 16, the former American pair skaters announced in a heartfelt Instagram post that they have a son on the way — and revealed that they had used in vitro fertilization to help them start their family.
“Our baby boy is 23 weeks along! We are eagerly anticipating the joyful moments that await us. 🩵,” Alexa, 33, captioned the sweet post, which also featured the hashtag “#ivfbaby” and “#july,” teasing their son’s due date.
In the Instagram photos, the couple could be seen standing on a beach as they kissed and Alexa placed her hand on her belly. Chris, 37, wore a simple navy blue polo shirt and khaki short combo, while Alexa showed off her growing bump in a white and blue floral dress — along with an Olympic logo necklace to complete her maternity style.
The pair — who helped lift Team USA to a bronze medal in the figure skating team event in PyeongChang in 2018 — first became skating partners in 2012 and began dating just one month later.
Chris eventually popped the question in 2014, and the couple tied the knot in June 2016 at a ceremony in Colorado Springs. Colo. — with their then-coach Dalilah Sappenfield officiating their nuptials, according to NBC. Their ceremony was also attended by fellow Olympic skaters Ashley Wagner and Adam Rippon.
Soon after, the Knierims went on to become the first married pair to compete at the Olympics since fellow Americans Jenni Meno and Todd Sand went to Nagano in 1998. In 2018, they were also the sole set of American pairs skaters competing in South Korea.
Although they retired from skating as partners in 2020, they won two national titles together and also served as the Olympic alternates in Sochi.
“We just know everything about each other, and I think it helps in the day-to-day when we go to practice and when we compete,” Alexa told PEOPLE in 2018, opening up about their relationship as both a couple and as athletic partners. “We support each other and we kind of know what the other one needs in that moment, and I think that’s what pushes us forward to be the great team that we are.”
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Alexa has been candid about dealing with a mysterious illness that affected her in the lead up to and after her wedding, and she was eventually diagnosed with a rare, potentially fatal gastrointestinal condition.
She underwent three surgeries and was left weighing just 80 lbs. at one point she previously told PEOPLE.
“It was a hard year, but it made us grow in ways I don’t think we could have if we didn’t go through the traumatic experience that we did,” Alexa said in 2018.
Chris agreed at the time, adding: “Everything that we went through, that helped strengthen our relationship together.”
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