I’m 32 and desperate to get pregnant. I made a poor career move last year that’s now put me in a difficult situation.
In 2023 I thought I’d found a dream job in a dream sector but it very quickly became apparent the environment was toxic and my manager wasn’t competent. I left the role after only 9 months and landed a slightly lower paid role with less responsibility in an organisation I really love.
I really panicked last year when I realised I needed to find a new job and that I’d be ttc while new to a role and could potentially get pregnant less than 9 months into the job.
My new job has enhanced maternity has the same criteria as statutory maternity pay (for at least 26 weeks continuing into the 15th week before the expected week of childbirth) but I didn’t know this until I started.
I really like the people I work with and worry that if I do get pregnant they’ll just think I just got the job for the maternity package and was always planning to do the job for a bit and then have a baby! My ideal would have been to have been in a role at least two years before having a baby but my plans just didn’t work out that way.
If you were a colleague, manager or exec member and an employee did this, would you think badly of them? Or is this more normal than I think?
Basically: am I being unreasonable to get pregnant 9 months into a job?