Women’s sports advocate Riley Gaines gives birth to baby girl

Female athlete Riley Gaines announced the birth of her daughter, Margot, on Thursday night. She shared images showing her and her husband, Louis Barker, holding the infant, dated on Monday. Gaines said nothing could have prepared her for the love she feels, and described being blessed beyond belief. Students for Life of America celebrated the birth in a Friday statement and shared another photo of the young family. Gaines is known as an outspoken advocate defending women's sports from the participation of biological men.

How long has her pregnancy been public? Gaines announced her pregnancy while speaking at a Turning Point USA event in June, amid an online feud with Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. Gaines recounted to the crowd how Biles tweeted, “Bully someone your own size, which would ironically be a male,” to Gaines. The former collegiate swimmer surprised the crowd by pulling out sonogram photos while quipping, “How many men do you know that have this?”

Gaines surprised the public in July by swimming the 1.25-mile Alcatraz prison route alongside U.S. Navy SEALs and other combat veterans while nearly eight months pregnant. Gaines joked about being more buoyant than usual and functioning as a submarine for her baby. Praise God for good health, she wrote.