Rebecca Adlington shares joy over daughter's birth

Two-time Olympic gold medallist Rebecca Adlington has announced the birth of her daughter.

The retired swimmer shared a photo of the newborn on Instagram, along with the caption: "Thea Joy Parsons. Our family is complete."

It comes after the double Olympic gold medallist, from Mansfield in Nottinghamshire, had two miscarriages - one in 2022 that she discovered during a 12-week scan, and another in 2023 when she was five months' pregnant.

She announced she was pregnant in a social media post in September, describing herself and her husband Andy Parsons as "cautiously overjoyed".

Adlington has one son - Albie - with Parsons, whom she married in 2021, and a daughter, Summer, born during her marriage to Harry Needs.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast in September about the loss, she said: "It does change you. It definitely eats away at you, it's definitely hard to process. You feel guilt - that 'is it something I did?'

"That trauma, it just lives with you. It eats away at you and it's something that doesn't get easier with time if you just bottle it up and don't talk about it."

In a social media post in December, she admitted struggling with some elements of the latest pregnancy.

"Being anxious and struggling doesn't take away from how grateful I am to be pregnant, it just means I'm human," Adlington added.

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