Any pregnant/ new mom Foreign Service employees out there?

[Anonymous]

Are there any moms out there who are or have been pregnant while in the Foreign Service? I'm three months pregnant and am applying for a specialist position that, if I'm selected, would probably begin shortly before or shortly after I deliver. I'm curious how flexible the Foreign Service is for taking maternity leave, how flexible they are (if at all!) with new moms who are also Foreign Service employees (not spouses of employees) in terms of placing them in reasonably family-friendly locations, etc... I would love to talk with anyone who has been there.

[Anonymous]

Have you passed all of the specialist entry requirements? I don't know how specialist entry works, but I would not worry about this issue until you actually have a letter of offer or a confirmed start date. At that point you'll need to work w/ your HR rep to manage the issue of maternity leave and departure for your posting. For the generalists there does seem to be flexibility for assignments/ start dates. All federal employees are able to take leave under FMLA up to 26 weeks (they increased the amount just a few weeks ago). The problem will be, unless you are transferring from another federal agency, is that you won't have accumulated enough leave for an extended absence. You'll need to do LWOP w/ approval. As far as getting placed in "family-friendly" places it's all relative and, like most things, "it depends." I've seen examples of great assignments and bad assignments...of amazing flexibility and wonderful treatment alongside horrible decisions and really bad assignments for families. It's a crap shoot and you really, really, really need to believe in what you are doing to tolerate some of the incredible inadequacies of the system that "manages" employees.

[Anonymous]

You might want to post this on General Parenting Discussion too, in case any moms there don't check the Expectant Moms forum.