I find it really interesting how the media portrays players like Candace who have children. Very rarely do you hear about male players' kids keeping them up at night before a game. And yet I'm sure at least some of the players' wives work as well...yet you never hear about them having to balance home life and family life. It's usually mentioned only in connection to female athletes.
It's an interesting question. Certainly I worked full-time and spent an enormous amount of time caring for my children during their early months, including in the middle of the night. And it absolutely did impact my job performance, especially when I had both a 19-month old and a newborn.
With regards to male athletes, I think the assumption is they make enough money that they're absolved from such responsibilities. And there's an expectation (even if it's false) that the mother is the one that's hands on. Men are not judged as being less of a father if they sleep through the night and support their families, whereas women are judged as mothers based on the time spent with their kids. It's a double-standard, but it's reality.
For me, I decided there was a time to be aggressive in my career and a time to be passable in my career while I diverted energy and focus to my children. My feeling was the early years represented time with them I'd never get back. However, my profession allowed for me to flexible that way. A world-class athlete only has a limited window of time to be world-class and earn a world-class salary.
The quandary of the timing of when to have kids is one that working women have to deal with, and if your job is to play a sport, the challenge is magnified.
