My maternal profile

Today I lost another job to motherhood. Being visibly pregnant makes it hard to look for work, so I’ve registered with a temp agency. This morning the agency called to offer me a nice, month-long clerical job at a nonprofit that would involve some lifting of boxes up to 25 pounds. I still weightlift more than that, so it wasn’t a problem, but, stupidly thinking aloud, I reminded the recruiter that I was seven months pregnant. That did it—the client didn’t want me.

This is turning into a trend. A couple of months ago, after an excellent interview that I foolishly ended by mentioning my pregnancy (I thought it was visible, but I realize now it wasn’t to the interviewer), I never received a call-back. Two years earlier, shortly after returning from giving birth to my first child, I lost a long-term position because the progressive nonprofit I worked for decided they were no longer willing to accommodate my need for flexible or part-time work. (A nasty moral of my story you might have noticed: Don’t expect warm fuzzy nonprofits to be all warm and fuzzy toward mothers.)

Moms Rising has recently coined the term "maternal profiling," meaning discrimination in pay or hiring against women who are or might become parents (and The New York Times picked up on it, so it must be real). I’m here to tell you, those of us whose profiles are temporarily rotund know all about it. I’d love to hear your stories. Have you been maternally profiled?

In the meantime, learn from my mistakes and don’t be naïve. If you’re pregnant, wear a loose shirt to interviews and don’t mention it. Wait until they’ve offered the job before you negotiate the issue (it is illegal to discriminate against someone for pregancy). If you know what you can do while pregnant, don’t give them the opportunity to second-guess you. Don’t ask, don’t tell.