In early 2018, I was sitting in a meeting to discuss the personalization of benefit packages for employees to increase engagement. A colleague casually mentioned during this meeting that in US firms, especially tech companies, the female employees are offered to freeze in their eggs as a part of the benefit package so that they have more time to make a career before the start into motherhood. No one in the meeting room seemed to be surprised. And I was like: “Hold on, what did you just say?”
Fast-forwarding to the beginning of 2021. I was up for a new professional challenge after working for eight years as a consultant. Once I make a decision, I go for it. No big deal, right?!
If you are a woman in her thirties this might turn into a bigger deal. For many women this is also the age in which you decide to start a family. In my beginning and mid-thirties, I’m so full of energy and creativity while also feeling mature enough to step up the game in all areas of my life. Classical dilemma! I asked myself (coming back to the eggs):
Shall I put all eggs into the family or career basket?
I quickly concluded: NO! It’s not an either-or decision because I can’t control how things will work out, neither if or when I get pregnant nor when I find a job that I love (and they want me as well). I’m not going to put anything in the deep freezer, neither my family planning nor my career.
I surrendered to the process of continuing being open for pregnancy and started to look for a new job. I trusted myself that if the time comes, I will feel what the right thing is to do following my mantra that brought me to where I am today:
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."
With embarking on the different journeys, I prepared myself to be ready grasping an opportunity once it comes across my path. To a certain extend luck isn’t a coincidence but costs a lot of effort to create the circumstances to make it happen. However, I’m pretty much aware that I’m in a lucky, privileged position to been born into an European middle-class family which of course gives me access to many opportunities.
In my next blog, I will tell you what happened when I realized that I’m pregnant and was fully into application processes. Tricky situation…
P.S. Coming back to my deep freezer… since there are no career steps nor eggs I need to store, I have lots of space for German bread ;) (German fellows living abroad can feel me, right?!)