Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian advocates for paid paternity leave in US, shares study on new fathers' brains changing after childbirth

Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian recently approved of a study that insisted new fathers benefit from paternity leaves after the baby is born.

Williams and Ohanian welcomed their second child, Adira River, in August. The Reddit co-founder and entrepreneur subsequently took a break from work to spend time with Adira and her elder sister Olympia at their Florida home instead.

In that context, it was hardly surprising when Serena Williams' husband shared a study on the maturation of Spanish fathers' brains post-childbirth, particularly noting the influence of paternity leave, on his Instagram account. He inferred in his caption how fathers in the USA shouldn't hesitate to take paternity leaves, writing:

"As if I needed more reasons to champion paternity leave."

A screen capture of Serena Williams' husband's Instagram story

Originally posted on the microblogging site by American media company 'The Skimm', the reel featured an expert elaborating why it was important for any new father to spend time with their family.

They also backed up their assertions using data from brain scans in the short video. Here are some excerpts from the reel:

"We don't know who needs to hear this... but taking paternity leave can literally change your brain. Let's talk about it. This article from "The 19th" breaks down a study of brain scans of new dads in Spain, where they have 16 weeks fully paid paternity leave, and in California, where new dads get about eight weeks paternity leave with reduced pay."

"And the findings were so interesting - the dads in Spain, who got to spend significantly more time with their newborn, saw a lot of changes in their brain's neuroplasticity. Specifically, they found that the Spanish brains changed when it came to sustained attention - which helps with parenting.

"Basically: a longer leave better trained brains for caretaking. So, knowing it makes you a better father and a better partner. If you have the opportunity to take the leave, please do."

Ohanian is the CEO of venture capital firm Six Six Seven and is best known for being the co-founder of the social media platform, Reddit. He also co-founded and invested in NWSL club Angel City FC.

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Serena Williams' husband Alexis Ohanian has always been a staunch supporter of paternity leaves

Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian and their daughter Olympia

Alexis Ohanian previously suggested that companies in the USA should offer paternity leave to new fathers. He was admittedly ignorant about the importance of taking time off from work, until the birth of his older daughter Olympia in September 2017.

Serena Williams' first pregnancy was difficult as Olympia's heart rate had dropped during contractions at the time of labor, prompting the doctors to perform an emergency C-section on her. Ohanian then took care of the new mother for weeks until she was healthy again.

"Before Olympia was born, I had never thought much about paternity leave... Our culture makes it difficult," the American said in a column on the New York Times in 2019.

"Men are conditioned to be breadwinners, exclusively, and another mouth to feed calls for more bread on the table…so off to work we go. Our sense of duty is often fear-based: Men assume their bosses will frown on paternity leave, so we don’t dare to go there," he added.