Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach's Relationship Timeline Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach met in 2016 and married a year later

By Emy LaCroix Emy LaCroix Emy LaCroix is a contributing writer at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2022. She previously worked as the deputy editor of Life & Style, In Touch,

and Closer Weekly.People Editorial GuidelinesUpdated on May 7, 2025 01:32PM EDT Credit : Taylor Hill/FilmMagic Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle have built a blended family together.

Since the retired American soccer player met the best-selling author at one of her book events, the couple have been inseparable. At the time, they were both married to other people —

or be wild enough to abandon everyone's expectations of me?"

The Soccer Hall of Famer was also confronted with the opportunity to change and took it.

"Before I met Glennon, I was living fast and hard," she said.

When Wambach dove headfirst into a new life with Doyle, she became a "bonus mom" to Doyle's three kids — Chase, Tish and Amma — who she said have completely changed her life and "taught

[her] everything."

A true blended family, the duo remains extremely close with Doyle's ex-husband.

"We have family dinners together — all six of us — and Abby cooks. (She is an AMAZING chef because Jesus loves me)," Doyle wrote on her Facebook page in 2016. "We go to the kids' school

parties together. Our children are loved. So loved."

From their first meeting to their wedding, here's everything to know about Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle's relationship.

2016: Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach meet at a book event Joe Scarnici/Getty Wambach and Doyle were strangers when they met at the launch of Doyle's Love Warrior book event in Chicago, but

Doyle felt the urge to greet her like an old friend.

"Just everything in me was like, there she is. Like just an absolute and total recognizing, even though I've never seen her before," Doyle said during their joint interview on the What's Her

Story With Sam & Amy podcast in September 2020. "Suddenly, I come to consciousness, and I'm standing up like this at the table with my arms thrown open towards the door."

Wambach was intrigued by the "weird woman" celebrating her arrival.

She added, "I finally get to Glennon and say hello. And then I sat down in my seat … I was next to this children's book writer, feeling like, well, I want to sit next to her [Glennon] for

some reason."

The two chatted briefly before Doyle's speech, and that's all it took to form a bond.

"In the literally three minutes it took us to get from the back room dinner table to the stage, I told Glen my whole story, and she touched my arm, and for sure that was like a lightning

bolt for me," Wambach said. "I think my heart and my soul knew way, way sooner than my brain."

The duo began emailing, and soon after, Doyle announced her divorce from her husband.

"It was the only thing that made sense at the time," Wambach said before adding, "Like thinking back on it now, I'm like, we were probably literally insane. Like our brains were so lit up

that we couldn't make the right decisions based on external expectations. We were only operating on a soul level."

November 13, 2016: Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach make their relationship public Abby Wambach/Instagram After Doyle announced her divorce and Wambach ended her three-year marriage in 2016,

the couple revealed their romance to the world.

"Feels like the world could use all the love it can get right now. So today, I'm going to share with you my new love," Doyle wrote on Facebook alongside a photo with Wambach. "Her name is

Abby. You might recognize her from soccer."

Doyle praised her new girlfriend's "sensitive and kind" nature and revealed they were already very serious — her three kids and ex-husband had already come to know and love Wambach.

"The kids call her an M&M because she looks tough on the outside, but inside, she's really mushy and sweet," Doyle continued on Facebook. "She's unwaveringly good to Craig, to the kids, to

Sister and to all my people."

She added, "And oh my God, she is so good to me. She loves me for all the things I've always wanted to be loved for. She's just my favorite. My person … I get it now. I get it. I am in love.

And I'm really, deeply happy."

February 18, 2017: Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach announce their engagement Abby Wambach Instagram In February 2017, Doyle first broke the news that the pair were engaged, sharing two

black-and-white photos of their ringed fingers on Facebook. Doyle's featured a large emerald cut diamond, and Wambach's a more understated diamond band.

"Abby and I decided to hold hands forever," she captioned the image. "Love Wins."

Wambach posted the same photo on Instagram a day later with the simple caption, "Happy," and the hashtag "#iseethemoonnow."

May 14, 2017: Glennon Doyle and Abby Wambach get married Doyle noted on Instagram in 2022 that she and Wambach became "the first queer women pictured in Architectural Digest in bed" when

they welcomed the outlet into their new home in California. The family, including their dogs, previously lived in Naples, Florida.

"As you likely know, I'm obsessed with home," Doyle captioned photos of the interior, rooftop and bedroom. "Home is my favorite. I identify as home-sexual. So, it was kind of intimidating to

invite the world into my safe, happy place. I'm glad we did though."

January 3, 2023: Glennon Doyle reveals anorexia diagnosis on podcast with Abby Wambach Moses Robinson/Getty On the first episode of We Can Do Hard Things in 2023, Doyle revealed she was

diagnosed with anorexia after years of believing she was bulimic.

"The shift of my identity as bulimic, bulimic, bulimic… anorexia is a totally different thing," she shared. "It's like a different religion. It's a different identity. It's a different way

of thinking, It's so confusing, and it shook me very deeply. And I did not believe it."

Doyle also shared that Wambach confronted her in their kitchen and said, "I can't do this for you," seemingly suggesting that Doyle would need to find the strength within herself to heal.

"This was a hard thing for me to say," Wambach explained to her wife on the podcast. "I knew I had to say it — it had to be out loud — because you needed to take complete ownership over this

process."

If you or someone you know is battling an eating disorder, please contact the National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA) at 1-800-931-2237 or go to NationalEatingDisorders.org.

August 2023: Abby Wambach talks about watching soccer with Glennon Doyle While speaking with PEOPLE at the premiere of We Are Ayenda, Wambach touched on how she's had some trouble getting

her wife to understand her sport.

Doyle has documented her soccer struggles on social media, most recently sharing her confusion while watching the U.S. Women’s National Team’s game against Portugal. Despite her best efforts

to explain the sport to Doyle using “metaphor and analogy," Wambach says she hasn't been able to help her other half completely grasp the ins and outs.

"And I do my best but she [has gone] up to me every time [asking questions]… since the World Cup started," Wambach said, noting that despite her wife's limited soccer knowledge, Doyle is

still “the best."

"I love her," she added.

August 7, 2025: Abby Wambach and Glennon Doyle talk about the ups and downs in their marriage When the couple appeared on the Call Her Daddy podcast, they talked about the "ups and downs" in

marriage they've experienced, both related to the "actual act of sex" and other types of intimacy.

"Something that works for us is to, like, know what makes each other feel that intimacy connection," Wambach said. "Because we’ve been together for 10 years-ish, and we've gone through ups

and downs."

She said she never expected to "be living at the high" points of their connection at all times, since that's not "sustainable."

"It happens for the first couple of years, you're infatuated with each other and can't keep your hands off of each other, but then you fall into a sense of loving, of complete partnership

and intimacy," Wambach added.

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