Braves’ Freddie Freeman, wife Chelsea open up about newborn sons, fertility struggles

Braves star and defending NL MVP Freddie Freeman arrived for spring training on Monday in Florida. His season is getting a later start than his fellow Braves but for two very special reasons.

Freeman and his wife Chelsea announced on Feb. 21 the birth of their two newborn sons.

The couple opened up for the first time on Feb. 22 about expanding their family and fertility struggles in a new interview with ESPN.com.

Brandon John Freeman was born on Dec. 30 and Maximus Turner was born on Feb. 14. Their names pay homage to Chelsea’s grandfather and Turner Field where Freddie started his career, according to the report.

The Freemans originally announced in August that they were expecting twin boys but revealed in the new report one was born through surrogacy and the other through Chelsea’s pregnancy.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

TRENDING STORIES

• Baseball’s back: Braves pitchers and catchers report to Spring Training
• Hawks to host 2021 NBA All Star game at State Farm Arena
• Braves wins salary arbitration with shortstop Dansby Swanson

The Freemans told ESPN’s Buster Olney they tried for years to get pregnant after the birth of their oldest son Charlie in 2016. The Freemans decided on surrogacy last year after discussions with their doctors.

Then an unexpected surprise happened: Chelsea learned she was pregnant.

“I started crying, and then I was freaking out,” Chelsea told Olney. “And then it’s just all of those emotions again. It really did feel like immediately I was healed, all the stress and everything lifted off my shoulders when I saw that positive.”

“Every pregnancy and fertility journey is a little bit different for everyone, and we wanted to respect our surrogate’s privacy, as well,” Freddie said in the interview. “I think it’s an inspirational story that we have.”

“We’re normal people, you know. I know you guys see me on TV a lot, playing baseball, but we go through the same things. We tried so hard.”

Read the full story and interview on ESPN.com.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]