Woman Shares Male Coworker's Reaction to Her Pregnancy Announcement; Triggers Online Debate

Working women are often subjected to problematic behavior that includes microaggression, and unconscious bias. These issues often serve as a hindrance in the path of a woman's advancement. In a video posted on TikTok by user Martha Rosey (@martharoseyy), the harsh truth of working in a male-dominated came to light in the form of an anecdote that triggered outrage on the internet. In the video, she shares her co-worker's reaction to her pregnancy. "I told everybody at work today that I’m pregnant and before I even found out I was pregnant, there’s this - I work in a lab, so it’s just all men," she said. Before explaining one specific man's reaction to the news, she goes on to give her viewers a bit of context. "This one guy in there, he was talking to me one day," the 24-year-old engineer continued. "I work in a lab by myself. He comes into my lab one day and he goes, 'Did your parents pay for you to go to college?' And I was like, 'No.'"

Rosey explained to him that she was able to pay for her college through scholarships and financial aid and is currently in the process of paying off her student debt after which the co-worker suggested she open a Roth IRA savings account for retirement."He goes on to say, 'Well if you ever want to have kids you could just start one for them,'" she said. "Just to end the conversation I said something along the lines of, ‘I’m not having kids.' It’s not true, I just wanted to end the conversation," Rosie added. 

She then went on to explain what happened when she announced her pregnancy in a group meeting. "Today, I announced at our group meeting that I’m pregnant and he walks by me as the meeting ends and he goes, ‘Hmm, really sounds like you didn’t want to have kids,'" she said. "This is why I like working from home," writes a user to which she replied, "I wish I could. What do you do??"

Many took to the comments section to share their reactions to the co-worker's bizarre reaction. Some even urged her to take it with the HR. "Don’t answer his questions. Talk to HR about his inappropriate behavior," read one comment by user M. Another user, KP joked about how she would simply gaslight him, "Tbh I would have gaslighted him and pretended I had no idea what he was talking about" while another user Jcurr92 referred to a line from the iconic TV show "Friends" and wrote, "That’s when you yell in front of everyone 'No you can’t buy my baby!'"

The comment section was filled with bizarre advice that women workers got from their male co-workers. One user, sophiasimmons2001 writes, "A male coworker told me that I was too young and irresponsible and should move in with my parents so that they can raise my baby."

For more such content on work-life and women's issues, you can follow @martharoseyy on TikTok.