When should I tell my employer I’m pregnant ?

Question

Hi everyone! So I am a graduate student who does scientific research so I’m pretty much always at work or school. I just found out that I’m almost THREE MONTHS PREGNANT! My partner and I are very happy and I have a very supportive family around me but I get very concerned when I think about my work life or my student life. I was wondering when exactly you guys feel like it’s best to tell your boss or organization? I work in a place that is practically an all male environment and it just puts me on edge, like I have to justify my life to them. Any tips on how to go about this??

Answer

I think you’re not obligated to tell them until you’re ready or feel like you can’t hide it anymore. You can start by telling one or two people or managers you trust and getting their input if you’re worried about how it will affect your work. Sometimes it helps if you speak to someone else who was pregnant in your organization. 
I was in a weird position recently where I was looking for a new job when I found out I was 8 weeks pregnant. I’m a mechanical engineer (a male dominated industry) and the job I ended up accepting is in a startup type of environment so I felt obligated to let them know before accepting to make sure that they could accommodate me. I was really nervous, especially given that my new supervisor was an unmarried man. 
I started by telling the CEO who is a woman and discussed with her how to let my manager know. She was very open to my situation and her next step was to talk to one of the group’s senior advisors who recently just had a second child to determine how to best accommodate me and facilitate my transition. She then handled the discussion with my new supervisor first. I was really surprised with how accepting and encouraging he was when he found out and how willing everyone was to make the job work for my pregnancy. In the end, they were able to work out a work from home day and gave me confidence about taking maternity leave when the time comes without feeling guilty.
I think you’ll find people are a lot more open minded and accepting than you initially expect. Unless they are complete chauvinistic jerks or complete hermits, no one will expect you to explain why “life happens” and that stuff exists outside of work and school.

Answer

I had a few friends who were pregnant in grad school also in science and male dominated fields. It went well for them. If your advisor/PI is a jerk about it and makes life difficult for you, make sure you go to the chair, the dean, other professors, the union if you have one...any tools at your disposal. I had another friend whose wife had a baby and he was denied any leave for the birth of his child by his new, young, childless advisor. That’s not right!

Answer

I work in a male dominated industry (towing), and told my boss at 6 weeks, just incase of any medical issues.

Answer

I didn’t tell my employer until I was 6months and my coworkers at 7months