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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Benjamin Goddard

Emotional Martina Navratilova concedes adoption plans “put on hold” after cancer fight

Tennis icon Martina Navratilova has conceded that the adoption plans she had with wife Julia Lemigova have been "put on hold" due to her battle against cancer.

The 66-year-old has revealed she is now "cancer-free" just two months after being diagnosed with stage one throat and breast cancer. The Czech-born tennis star won 18 major singles titles and 31 Grand Slam doubles crowns during her illustrious career and has now re-considered her adoption plan.

The tennis star also battled breast cancer in 2010, but feared "she might not see Christmas" after her most recent double diagnosis. During an interview on Talk TV's Piers Morgan Uncensored the tennis great explains that plans she and wife Julia had for adoption have now been "put on hold".

"We were thinking about adopting but that's definitely put on hold, and I don't think it's going to happen," she said. "I think it's just too complicated and the energy, I only have so much right now.

During the interview Navratilova revealed how she felt "very up and down" during the period of intense cancer treatment. Navratilova said that she had radiation treatment every day for three weeks, mixed with three weekly rounds of chemotherapy which was “definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done”.

The 66-year-old has a new look on her and wife Julia's plans to adopt a child. She added: "I'm not really the youngest anymore and I don't want to be the grandmother on the playground. "Forget that part, there's just not enough space I think for this to happen."

Martina Navratilova and wife Julia Lemigova were planning to adopt a child before her double cancer diagnosis earlier this year (Getty Images)

Former Russian model Lemigova is a cast member of reality television series The Real Housewives of Miami and recently gave her own update on the Bravo TV show.

"When you're adopting a child, it has to be about the child," Lemigova said. "And, right now, it's everything about Martina, and for her (to be) getting healthy.

"So, we're putting it on hold. You know, we were thinking (that at) any moment, the agency would call and give us happy news that we're going to have a baby... Instead, we are fighting two cancers. Like one was not enough."

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