Expecting and I just found out I don't qualify for short term disability. America is not pro-life/pro-birth

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I really wish jobs forced you to pay into std. But to be fair to your employer, you should have had this. For my first two pregnancies I saved annual and sick leave until I had the amounts I wanted and then we got pregnant.

How nice for you that you had a job with benefits, and were able to conceive at the time you wanted not once, but TWICE, with benefits both times Though according to you, we definitely need to make sure we are being "fair" to employers who often hire contractors so that they don't have to pay benefits, people who won't be able to be responsibile like you and save their leave, since they will never accrue leave or have benefits as a contractor.

If you don’t like the benefits available to you as a contractor, find a different job.

[Anonymous]

Then be a W2 employee OP not a contractor.

[Anonymous]

It’s too late. You need to figure this out and plan better in the future.

[Anonymous]

The number of people out here fighting for the rights of employers to shit all over moms has me despairing that things will ever change. You all sound like Pick Me’s for capitalism.

OP this sucks and is super gross, but try not to let it overshadow your joy. Congratulations!

[Anonymous]

If getting pregnant was an option for you and you wanted paid leave then it sounds like you shouldn’t have been a contractor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The number of people out here fighting for the rights of employers to shit all over moms has me despairing that things will ever change. You all sound like Pick Me’s for capitalism.

OP this sucks and is super gross, but try not to let it overshadow your joy. Congratulations!

There are pros and cons with being a contractor. OP should have looked for a real position. It would have been harder to find and she would likely have been paid less though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so angry.

I am a contractor with benefits, or so I thought. I've been with my job for two years - I started in July 2024. My mom unexpectedly passed a month later, and I had a really, really hard time. I wish I could've had longer than the week I was out to grieve; my mental health took an extreme nose dive for months. So, this year I decided I was going to enroll in short-term disability. Open enrollment was from 10/27/25 - 11/7/25. I had a doctor's appointment and found out I was pregnant 11/23/25. I was discussing my leave with HR, and because short-term disability is based on the last missed period or conception (just found this out today), I don't qualify. Since I'm a contractor, I don't get maternity leave, only short-term disability, so I have absolutely nothing.

I can't believe this. I am so angry that they don't go by medical confirmation. Meanwhile, my fiancé gets 8 weeks, and my brother-in-law is getting SIX months of paid leave, while his wife only gets 2 weeks. We had planned to sign a lease for a much larger place this week (we currently live in a 1-bedroom condo with two dogs), but because of this, we will now need to stay put. I'm glad we still have a place to live, but since I won't have any income for at least 6 weeks, we'll have to be even more cramped here.

I know there's more than one reason why the fertility rates are so low here, but sheesh, if we were more pro-birth, maybe people would be inclined to have children.

You knew the dates for open enrollment so why didn't you use your head for something other than a hat rack by either both you and partner using birth control and a condom or simply abstaining so you would not fall pregnant during open enrollment? I agree with the poster up thread who said you were just gaming the system and you lost.

One of the most important, if not the most important, attributes of an adult is accepting responsibility for your decisions when they turn out bad.

Who tf plans their sex life around freaking open enrollment lol.

Actually I agree with the PP. If there are times when you’re uninsured or can’t get pregnant for whatever reason then you should have made sure there’s no chance of getting pregnant. It doesn’t kill you to do that for a couple of months!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The number of people out here fighting for the rights of employers to shit all over moms has me despairing that things will ever change. You all sound like Pick Me’s for capitalism.

OP this sucks and is super gross, but try not to let it overshadow your joy. Congratulations!

There are pros and cons with being a contractor. OP should have looked for a real position. It would have been harder to find and she would likely have been paid less though.

I’m on a contract with benefits…how is that not a “real” position?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I am so angry.

I am a contractor with benefits, or so I thought. I've been with my job for two years - I started in July 2024. My mom unexpectedly passed a month later, and I had a really, really hard time. I wish I could've had longer than the week I was out to grieve; my mental health took an extreme nose dive for months. So, this year I decided I was going to enroll in short-term disability. Open enrollment was from 10/27/25 - 11/7/25. I had a doctor's appointment and found out I was pregnant 11/23/25. I was discussing my leave with HR, and because short-term disability is based on the last missed period or conception (just found this out today), I don't qualify. Since I'm a contractor, I don't get maternity leave, only short-term disability, so I have absolutely nothing.

I can't believe this. I am so angry that they don't go by medical confirmation. Meanwhile, my fiancé gets 8 weeks, and my brother-in-law is getting SIX months of paid leave, while his wife only gets 2 weeks. We had planned to sign a lease for a much larger place this week (we currently live in a 1-bedroom condo with two dogs), but because of this, we will now need to stay put. I'm glad we still have a place to live, but since I won't have any income for at least 6 weeks, we'll have to be even more cramped here.

I know there's more than one reason why the fertility rates are so low here, but sheesh, if we were more pro-birth, maybe people would be inclined to have children.

You knew the dates for open enrollment so why didn't you use your head for something other than a hat rack by either both you and partner using birth control and a condom or simply abstaining so you would not fall pregnant during open enrollment? I agree with the poster up thread who said you were just gaming the system and you lost.

One of the most important, if not the most important, attributes of an adult is accepting responsibility for your decisions when they turn out bad.

Who tf plans their sex life around freaking open enrollment lol.

Actually I agree with the PP. If there are times when you’re uninsured or can’t get pregnant for whatever reason then you should have made sure there’s no chance of getting pregnant. It doesn’t kill you to do that for a couple of months!

It wasn’t a couple of months. I started a 3 month contract ( they extended it months later) in July of 2024, so I enrolled when I started. I didn’t have another open enrollment until this November of 2025.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The number of people out here fighting for the rights of employers to shit all over moms has me despairing that things will ever change. You all sound like Pick Me’s for capitalism.

OP this sucks and is super gross, but try not to let it overshadow your joy. Congratulations!

There are pros and cons with being a contractor. OP should have looked for a real position. It would have been harder to find and she would likely have been paid less though.

I’m on a contract with benefits…how is that not a “real” position?

NP. Plenty of us want the contractor jobs. They have higher pay and no benefits. I can get insurance through my DH, so higher pay would be a bonus.

[Anonymous]

Who tf plans their sex life around freaking open enrollment lol.

You plan a pregnancy around open enrollment.

[Anonymous]

OP as an addition to your story, I have STD but it doesnt cover pregnancy or pregnancy-related complications. I also have no maternity leave.
People can suck it. There's a reason nothing like this should be tied to employment. Insurance. STD. Maternity/paternity, etc. Its all shitty quid pro quo for capitalism.

And for those of comparing 55% (sometimes untaxed) for a year to 100% for 12 weeks (taxed) with the latter as better, I cant even. Its like someone saying ill give you a dollar for 365 days a week versus someone saying ill give you 2 dollars for 90 days and you thinking the latter is a win.

55% with no daycare costs, ability to nap when baby naps, ability to enjoy and experience being nap trapped, to be the first thing your baby sees in the morning and the last view at night, to be able to walk and explore outside with them versus 100% and a nanny/daycare at 12 weeks where you are lucky if they get picked up and carried and loved. Again see the shitty quid pro quo for capitalism.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Who tf plans their sex life around freaking open enrollment lol.

You plan a pregnancy around open enrollment.

The fact that you’re saying this is how an adult should conduct their sex life is indicative of the problem.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Who tf plans their sex life around freaking open enrollment lol.

You plan a pregnancy around open enrollment.

The fact that you’re saying this is how an adult should conduct their sex life is indicative of the problem.

NP what's the problem? Lots and LOTS of people plan their pregnancies. Weird how so many teachers have babies in summer, for example. It's how adults function especially ones that take jobs without full benefits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Who tf plans their sex life around freaking open enrollment lol.

You plan a pregnancy around open enrollment.

The fact that you’re saying this is how an adult should conduct their sex life is indicative of the problem.

Dp. What is wrong with using birth control and even abstaining if you can’t afford to get pregnant? When did having unprotected piv sex as much as you want become an essential thing that the rest of us should pay for?