Reflections on Challenging Times

As many academic mamas do, I waited until I was (almost) tenured to try to have my children. After a couple of miscarriages, I got pregnant with twins. Here I present both personal stories and tales of how colleagues were treated by their department and administration when they were pregnant. Some had administrative duties revoked, some were encouraged to engage in academic dishonesty in order to have maternity leave, and some were not eligible for any leave. I also provide suggestions of how others might handle these encounters better than we pregnant faculty did.