RHOM's Julia Lemigova Is 'Sleep-Deprived but So Happy' After Welcoming Sons with Wife Martina Navratilova (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Julia Lemigova and Martina Navratilova attend the 66th GRAMMY Awards Pre-GRAMMY Gala & GRAMMY Salute to Industry Icons Honoring Jon Platt on February 03, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California.Photo:Amy Sussman/Getty

Amy Sussman/Getty

Julia Lemigovais loving life as a new mom of four.

On Saturday, Nov. 23, theReal Housewives of Miamistar, 52, opened up to PEOPLE abouther two sons, whom she welcomed through adoptionwith wifeMartina Navratilova, 67.

“I’m sleep-deprived but so happy,” Lemigova tells PEOPLE at Bravo Fan Fest 2024 in Miami. “It’s becoming a reality because it’s only been three months, but it’s been a very intense, loving, incredible, three months.”

She says adding little ones to the mix has changed a thing in her marriage with the tennis star. “When we got married, [Navratilova] promised me, one of her vows was she would get off social media a little bit because she’s constantly on Twitter [now X] and that it took her how many years of marriage to actually be less on social media because of the boys because now she has no time,” says Lemigova.

But she assures, Navratilova “loves it.”

“She’s making pancakes in the morning, taking them to school,” Lemigova says. “She’s so energized. When we first got them, we thought we are saving them, but in reality, we’re both saving each other. And seeing them, like waking up in the morning with their little faces and what joy it brought into our life. It’s like [being] a new mother again all of a sudden after being an empty nester.”

Julia Lemigova and her wife Martina Navratilova.Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty

Lemigova, who also has two daughters from two previous relationships,welcomed her sonswith Navratilova after nearly 10 years of marriage, a rep for the couple confirmed to PEOPLE in August.

“We are over the moon recognizing the challenges and the rewards for everybody,” Navratilova shared in a statement with PEOPLE.

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The pair madeReal Housewiveshistory in 2021 as the first same-sex couple to appear on the franchise. At the time, Lemigova toldNBC Newsthat she was “overwhelm[ed]” with the support she and Navratilova received after she was cast on the Bravo show.

Martina Navratilova and Julia Lemigova take a selfie in the Royal Box ahead of the Women’s Singles Final on day thirteen of The Championships Wimbledon 2023 on July 15, 2023.Clive Brunskill/Getty

Clive Brunskill/Getty

Navratilovaannounced that she was cancer-freein June 2023 and LemigovatoldPage Sixin December that they weren’t “closing the door" on their adoption plans quite yet.

Now, they’re navigating their new normal as a family of six. Lemigova tells PEOPLE at Bravo Fan Fest that since the adoption happened “so fast,” her eldest children are going through some “growing pains.”

“Even we were not prepared for it. We literally got a phone call and jumped on the plane and got to the destination to pick them up. But I cannot wait for us to be together,” she says of her daughters who live outside of Miami. “We are a strong family. I’m hoping one day we will be like six of us for a long time in Miami instead of like just a short period of time for holidays. Trying to move them back to Miami.”

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The Real Housewives of Miamiis available to stream on Peacock.

source: people.com