I just landed my dream job and then found out I was pregnant

[hello2026]

HELP! I just landed my dream job and found out I was pregnant 1 day later. Do I still take the job? Feeling worried about job security / maternity / or if they will fire me during probation as I will be 3 months at the point of starting. What are my rights here… also keen to hear opinions. Important to note I am incredibly career driven!

Can you talk to anyone in your industry about it to help you think through options? So much depends on the culture.
Can you talk to the company about it? Will they take you on anyway? Is it the kind of thing where there will be similar opportunities in a year's time? Will it be really awkward if you accept and then pretend you found out a few weeks from now?

It's illegal for them to discriminate against you on the basis of pregnancy

My colleague found out the day she accepted the job. The only issue was that she didn’t qualify for our generous maternity pay. It didn’t hinder her career though and she’s now my manager.

Yes take the job. You don't need to tell them anything until you are 22 weeks, and they can't ask ( even if you are showing).

No. I wouldn’t. Unfortunately starting a new job when you need maternity leave in less than six months is not viable. They would have to make the whole effort of finding someone else again and though they may not be able to legally discriminate sack you, colleagues would not have a good first impression of you. You’d be seen as flaky and “oh, it’s her who took the job knowing she couldn’t follow through with it”. Plans change and you should stay where you are.

worth emailing them and asking if they’d consider taking you on once you are ready to return to work FT once baby is born.

Take the job - it sounds like you are very early in pregnancy still and there are no guarantees the pregnancy will work out (sorry to be so blunt about this!). If it’s your dream job it’s unlikely to come around again soon, and giving it up now when you’ve only just found out about the pregnancy seems a shame. Would probably not tell work anything until at least after your 12 week scan, if not waiting until 20. Good luck!

Take it, wait until you’ve had your contract, then tell them you’ve told your work you’re leaving and you really want the job but you’ve just found out you’re pg. Ask to speak to your new manager about it in a video call and be open and frank - it’s your dream job but you’ve just found out. See what they say as some people would be happy to wait if you’re their dream recruit, others might be twatty about it. You don’t want to leave your job if they turn out to be dicks, but equally you don’t want to miss this if they would’ve been totally fine about it.
Say you’ve handed in your notice just to show you’re committed to the role- just don’t actually hand your notice in in case they are dicks and you end up wanting to stay put.

I’d take the job, assuming you can afford to potentially miss out on any enhanced mat leave.

It’s early days for the pregnancy, and whilst you’d hope everything goes to plan, there’s sadly no guarantees at this stage so it’d be completely understandable to say nothing until after your 20wk scan.

That said, I could totally understand why you might want to tell them earlier, especially if you’ll be 3 months when you start the job as you’ll legally need to inform them of the pregnancy before your probation ends and in your shoes I’d want to know if they’re going to be twats about it in advance before giving up the security of my existing job.

Agree with all the other posters, take the job and good luck :)

Legally you can take it however you’d probably have to put up with a very unsympathetic boss and workmates.

It happened to me (although I was moving from temping with an employer to going permanent).
It does mean you'll have to claim maternity benefits , and in my case I only took 5 months maternity leave.

Congratulations!

I had a similar situation, I found out I was pregnant in between interviews for a much better job. I had previously put off applying for jobs due to TTC but decided I had waited too long.

I was offered the job at 9w pregnant, and considered whether to accept. In the end I thought about which job I would like to go back to after mat leave, and that made my decision for me. I realise it was inconvenient for the company but it was best for me to accept the job.

I told the company about the pregnancy after my 12w scan. They were really good about it (considering they must have been annoyed). It’s a big company so that probably makes a difference. As I wasn’t entitled to statutory maternity pay they gave me a one-off payment. As I had a 3 month notice period I started the job at 6 months pregnant.

I agree with other posters - look into the financial side as you may not be entitled to SMP (but may get maternity allowance instead), but ultimately make your decision based on what you want without worrying about the company.

I accepted a new internal role while pregnant and they were fine about it.

If joining a new company, the main issue will be that you’ll unlikely qualify for any enhanced maternity package they offer.

Rights-wise you are completely fine as others have said but focussing on the career aspect, I probably wouldn’t take it if you’ve not resigned from your other job yet unless it’s your one chance at this dream job or it’s a massive salary increase. You don’t know how difficult a pregnancy you’ll have, imagine if you need to take a lot of sick leave in the first 6 months of a new job then go on mat leave, it won’t leave a good impression despite it not being your fault and you won’t thrive in the role if you’re physically too ill. I would chill in your current job then search again during mat leave. But depending how far along you are, potentially stall a bit in case the pregnancy isn’t viable. You can also be upfront with them and say you’ve decided not to take it as you’re pregnant and you don’t think it’s fair to them but please do let you know if another role comes up in the next 12 months. If they really want you above all other candidates they will say so and then you can take the risk.

I was pregnant when I accepted this role, however after 4 miscarriages between 8-11 weeks I wasn't sure the pregnancy would continue so I accepted anyway, knowing it's best for the long term. Next week I'm telling my boss so will let you know how it goes! I feel a bit guilty, but honestly after everything I've been through, including the fertility struggles, on balance taking the job was worth it. Everyone is replaceable in a job. You have to do what's best for you

Accept the job but tell them upfront you’re pregnant. If they revoke the offer, they’re acting illegally. I think (for the sake of happy working relationships), it’s best to be honest from day 1.

Maybe you're the sort of colleague who would be judgy. I'd like to believe that most people would be understanding.

I think deep down most colleagues won’t be able to help judging a bit. Let’s face it mat leaves are annoying for the rest of the team particularly when a lot of employers don’t backfill the role these days. Thinking everyone including hiring manager and new teammates will be happy and supportive of a new hire who turns up 3 months pregnant is quite naive imo. No one would say it out loud but they would definitely be irritated. Nothing they can do though so OP’s risk as to whether she thinks it’s worth it long term for her career and to be fair if she is amazing at her job they will soon forget about it if she comes back all guns blazing after mat leave.

The only reason I wouldn’t (and haven’t in the past) is for financial reasons, can you check your entitlement?

Also early pregnancy can be especially hard, I have barely been able to function in my job that I know inside out for the first trimester. You may find it difficult to go in all guns blazing! However if you have a longer notice period potentially you’ll be past the first trimester when starting?

Can you afford to only have maternity allowance for your mat pay? If so take the job, if the pregnancy isn't successful you will have given up the dream job. It's not ideal but life rarely is

I was made redundant the day I found out I was pregnant, after having two miscarriages in 6 months I knew there were no guarantees the pregnancy would stick so I was applying for jobs until my dating scan at 13 weeks. I got through to final interview for one of those positions at 14 weeks. I was just pipped to the post in the end but I would have accepted it and then informed them of my pregnancy and hoped for the best. It was the ideal job and I couldn't not go for it as I would have been kicking myself if I hadn't and lost the pregnancy. I'll start the job hunt again after baby arrives

Thank you all! I’ve accepted the job :)

Definitely take it! You can figure things out as you go, worse case scenario you decide to leave (they can't make you) and you're just in the same boat so no loss? And definitely don't care about what people may think of you, you've learnt this job and have the right to have a child too. I appreciate may be easier said than done but you're number one