Playing football and being a mum - Man Utd's Bizet's 'two dreams'
"If you have two dreams, you can live both of them at the same time," Bizet Donnum told the BBC's Women's Football Weekly podcast. The Norway international announced in December that she and husband Aron Bizet Donnum - also a professional footballer - were expecting their first child in 2026. At 24, Bizet Donnum is in her prime as a player, but said it felt a "natural thing" to have a baby while still in her playing career.
"It was a hard thing to actually get pregnant and not be in the team. Missing out the whole season - it's very scary," she said. "But for me, it was even more scary to not have the baby in my career.
" Bizet Donnum was speaking to former England striker Ellen White, who, like many other sportswomen, waited until she had finished playing to start a family. "When I was playing, a lot of players older than me waited until they retired - similar to what I did," White said. "I don't know if it was because of security, not knowing if you are going to feel that support from your club or judgement or even if you are going to feel ready to come back.
"There's so many tournaments that at times you feel like you're having to sacrifice something. It felt like maybe one sacrifice was not having a baby while playing. " Mother’s Day Special with Ellen White and Celin Bizet Dønnum Earlier this month, Aston Villa midfielder Missy Bo Kearns, 24, announced she was expecting her first child, while Bizet Donnum's United team-mate Hannah Blundell - currently on loan at Everton - returned to football in November just seven months after giving birth.
Simone Magill, a striker for WSL 2 promotion hunters Birmingham City, is also expecting her first child in May, but Bizet Donnum said these examples remain the exception. "It's still very rare to have a baby when you are a footballer," she said. "Some people ask if I'm going to quit football and I'm like, 'What?