Joining job @ 6 months pregnant
I just got a WFH remote job offer with a third-party education company right at the start of my third trimester after being unemployed for the last 3 years. I should feel excited, but honestly I’m carrying a lot of anxiety and PTSD from my previous job experience.
At my last company, I worked there for about 4–5 years and after returning from maternity leave, my position was suddenly eliminated. Ever since then, I’ve had a lot of fear around pregnancy and employment.
Now I’m stepping into a brand new corporate role while visibly pregnant, and I’m struggling with when/how to disclose it. The handbook says they require 60 days notice before leave, but my anxiety is less about the leave itself and more about how I’ll be treated once they know. I’m worried about passive-aggressive behavior during and after disclosing, being viewed differently, or feeling pushed out again.
The recruiter will also be staying in touch with me for the first 90 days, which adds another layer because I’m unsure whether I should proactively disclose things early or wait until closer to when leave would actually be needed. I just wrapped up my first week and the recruiter keeps calling me asking how are things but I’m sure she won’t get paid until the probationary period is over which is why she keeps checking in. She’s also very micromanagey and I don’t want to deal w her asking me why I didn’t disclose pregnancy during interviewing. I know a lot of mom friends who had job offers rescinded or denied once disclosing the pregnancy and that’s why I didn’t tell them yet.
For anyone who’s navigated pregnancy during onboarding or starting a new corporate job:
Did you tell HR immediately or wait?
Did disclosing early help or hurt?
How did you approach the conversation professionally without oversharing fear/anxiety from past experiences?
When do you think I should tell them any advice or reassurance would be appreciated
At the end of the day I’m okay with however they respond I think I’ll be relieved if they let me go but I doubt that they’ll do that bc of pregnancy discrimination laws but also I need to pay bills so I can’t lose this job either 😭
I know legally they can’t discriminate, but emotionally it’s hard not to carry baggage from what happened before. Looking for honest advice or experiences from others who’ve been through something similar.