I was ‘mother-shamed’ after DWI arrest

Hope Solo continues to open up about her DWI arrest.

The former USWNT goalkeeper was arrested for driving while impaired in April with her 2-year-old twins in the car, and pled guilty in July.

“I didn’t think I needed help,” she said on her “Hope Solo Speaks” podcast. “And I certainly wasn’t going to ask for it. At the time, I didn’t know that I was only doing a disservice to my family. I thought that I could white-knuckle it. But the reality is that nobody gets to live without asking for help. My sense of strength and pride became my two worst enemies. And I found myself living the worst night of my life. I let alcohol get the better of me in this moment on this godawful day, and I will suffer the consequences for some time.”

Solo, 41, then talked about how she has been “mother-shamed” for the incident.


Hope Solo said she was 'mother-shamed around the world' after her DWI arrest.
Hope Solo said she was “mother-shamed around the world” after her DWI arrest.
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“I put doubt in others of my ability and commitment to motherhood. I’ve disappointed my husband, my friends and family and it has caused arguments between [husband] Jerramy [Stevens] and me. I feel never-ending guilt, shame and embarrassment. I was mother-shamed around the world,” she said.

Solo was arrested in April after she was observed passed out behind the wheel with the engine running in a Walmart parking lot in North Carolina.

At the time of the DWI, Solo said she “underestimated what a destructive part of my life alcohol had become” and that the arrest was “easily the worst mistake of my life.”


Hope Solo as USWNT goalkeeper before game versus Costa Rica.
Hope Solo as USWNT goalkeeper before game versus Costa Rica.
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She nonetheless defended her parenting.

“Our family is strong and surrounded with love. Our kids are strong, intelligent, happy and vibrant, and we are present every day giving them the best life possible,” Solo wrote in an Instagram story.