Dr. Samantha Decombel is a scientist and a businesswoman who was invited to address a scientific conference in Brussels.
However, when event organisers found out the founder of FitnessGenes was 35 weeks pregnant, they uninvited her. Decombel took to her Instagram account to tell her followers just how annoyed and shocked she was when she got the email.
She wrote: “I hadn’t expected to make a formal announcement of this on social media, but given the events of the last few weeks it feels like the right thing to do. I am pregnant. I am over the moon that myself and my partner will soon be welcoming our little girl into the world. I am also still the Chief Science Officer of@fitnessgenes and love my job. When I was invited to give a talk in #Brusselsthis week on #science and#entrepreneurship, I happily accepted, as it is a cause close to my heart.”
She continued: “So you can imagine my shock when my invite was withdrawn by@europeancommission officials due to my being 7 months on ‘health reasons’. As an advocate for our company I am in excellent health. Regardless, it should be my choice, as it should be any woman’s choice, as to whether to participate in events at this later stage of pregnancy. I invited them to reconsider, with a heartfelt and considered response. I didn’t even get a reply. “I emailed again, making them aware of how disappointed I was in this lack of response to such an important issue as pregnancy discrimination. They then tried to insist the withdrawal was due to other reasons, despite the strong evidence to the contrary…This type of discrimination is not only illegal, it discourages women from pursuing careers in science or business as they believe they have to make a choice between this and family. This should absolutely not be the case, and is too important to let go unchallenged.”
She also shared an image of the email she received from the organisers which read: “I get back to you because after a reflexion our colleagues from the European Commission are not very enthusiastic to take a risk for your health making you travel to Brussels at the late stage of your pregnancy [sic].”
Since speaking out about her story, the hashtag ‘#7monthsawesome’ has been doing the rounds on Twitter. Here are some of the best messages of support…
I operated until the day my water broke! i was bummed because i had two great cases scheduled that day! #7monthsawesome #ILookLikeASurgeon
— Colleen Gaughan (@philadoc) December 7, 2015
I worked 4 days a week, managed 2 additional projects as a freelancer, moved & renovated my house up until my due date #7monthsawesome — PregnantThenScrewed (@PregnantScrewed) December 3, 2015
Thanks to all the awesome mums who have helped #7monthsawesome take off. I hope @EU_Commission will see error & re-invite @samdecombel.
— Karen James (@kejames) December 2, 2015
I worked out 5 days a week, taught at Harvard, worked on manuscripts, gave invited talk while #7monthsawesome — Kate Clancy (@KateClancy) December 2, 2015