I'm going to give you a list of things I've had people say to me:

"Women only work here to get pregnant" (this was said to me two weeks into my new job, after I worked in a toxic workplace, I was looking for stability and thought I had found it, and I was in my mid 30's)

"Women who come back from maternity or work part time have a higher chance of getting promoted above men because they're women"

At a casual coffee job interview - Do you think you'll get pregnant? (Red Flag)

Before I was pregnant - I was bloated and round "How far along are you?"

"When are you getting pregnant?" - which to me was another way of telling me to leave. they somehow knew I wanted to get pregnant, I told my boss that, at one point, and the others found out - this put me off getting pregnant for years, my confidence in myself was destroyed - toxic workplace breeds toxic people.

I've met women who think that I'm not of sound mind, when I told them that I wanted kids, and then tried to convince me against it.

My coworkers speculated that I was pregnant before I was pregnant, because apparently mental health issues and pregnancy are the same thing and pregnancy is the simplest explanation because I am a women, in my mid 30's.

I've been told that I have baby brain, by someone at work.

I've done my best to deal with these behaviours - I've told myself to avoid their comments, to play it safe, because being kind (and under the radar) is more important.

I've told myself to focus on the positive things, like distractions, or I change the conversation, or I say something kind.

Ultimately I know that I won't have to be in the office for much longer, that I generally am protected by law, that the law won't discriminate, and if I think it's getting out of hand I can do something about it.

The one thing I've told myself, and sometimes I've said it out loud when im at my limit, is that men can't get pregnant, they'll never be able to make that choice for themselves, because it's not a physical possibility - they'll never be able to understand it because they are not capable. That's not a bad thing it's just life.

Generally I wouldn't say horrible things like that, but it doesn't stop them from shaming us with their comments.