Scientist’s invitation to speak at conference was revoked – for being pregnant

 

Samantha Decombel was invited to speak at a European scientific conference taking place this December, but after they found out she would be seven months pregnant at the time of the event, they revoked her invite.

 

The British geneticist, who own FitnessGenes which personalises training and diet plans based on their genetic traits, was asked to give a lecture on research and entrepreneurship in Brussels.

 

However, when she requested if she could travel by train rather than by air, her invitation to speak was pulled, and she received an email outlining the Commission’s reason why.

 

"After a reflection 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." 

 

Her reply failed to get a answer and when she emailed again six weeks later she received a short response, which side-stepped the issue.

 

Feeling the need to share her experience, Samantha took to Instagram where she uploaded a photo of herself and wrote about what happened.

 

 

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 #Brussels this week on #science and #entrepreneurship, I happily accepted, as it is a cause close to my heart. So you can imagine my shock when my invite was withdrawn by @europeancommission officials due to my being 7 months on 'health reasons'.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. I felt I had no option but to escalate this further. The Sunday Times have picked up my story as an exclusive and I look forward to this issue finally being taken as seriously as I believe it should be. 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. #discrimination #health #pregnant #pregnantinheels #pregnancy #pregnantgirlproblems #pregnancyproblems #femaleentrepreneur #womeninbusiness #girlboss #entrepreneurship #equality #science #womeninscience #feminism #leanin #Business #businesswomen #femalefounder #startup

A photo posted by Dr. Samantha Decombel (@samdecombel) on Nov 29, 2015 at 3:04am PST

 

People have been quick to get behind her, and soon after her post was uploaded, the #7monthawesome campaign started trending on Twitter, with people sharing their own stories.

 

On Monday, the European Commission emailed Decombel a response, assuring her that "gender equality is a principle that we constantly seek to uphold and promote across the board, internally and externally — including in science and business, where women are still underrepresented."

 

However, Sarah wants the Commission to make a public statement and is currently discussing options with her lawyer.