Hi, all! So right now I am working in a lab as a research officer and the professor whose lab it is likes me as well. I want to apply for PhD in her lab (apply in August for Feb next year is the rule in this university), but I also wish to conceive. My plan is to get pregnant in a month and deliver in March-April. University policy says that if I get admitted, I can start PhD anytime in the first six month of next year. I just don't know how to bring this up to my supervisor... I am worried that if I tell her that I want to get a baby first and then start PhD that she may not want me anymore... you guys have a good advice on how to approach this problem??

Leaving aside the difficulty you will face having a baby to look after whilst also doing a PhD, you actually have nothing to tell your potential supervisor because you are not pregnant. Nor can you put any credible timetable on when you will do so. Nature has a tendency not to work like that. All of my kids (now fully grown up) took different times to be conceived.
She is certainly not entitled by law or any other measure to know that you are attempting to get pregnant.

If you fall pregnant during the PhD, if UK based, you will be entitled to maternity pay.

I agree with pm133. Your decision to try for a baby is yours and your husband's personal matter. You do not need to inform or ask for permission from your future supervisor.

However, have a think about your challenge to balance a PhD with your new role as a new mum. It is not impossible, but it can be a bit stressful. Do you also have support from your husband and maybe other family members to help make it work? Both roles as a new mum and a PhD student are very challenging, so every little support counts. All the best....

I have family support, thank God. My mom said I can have a baby and just give it to her. She's more than happy to look after it while I am studying. Even my husband supports me with looking after the baby. I just want to become a mom soon. I am based in Australia and am an international applicant here. But I am a US citizen.

A PhD is all consuming.
Having a baby is all consuming too.
If you do both at the same time something will have to give regardless of how much support you have behind you.
It is likely you will have to compromise on both although there are people out there who will wrongly attempt to convince you that you can have it all.
One of these will be have to take priority for you and the other will suffer as a consequence compared to the situation where you do one at a time.
You have a big decision to make.

My advice would be to apply for the PhD as planned, start trying for a baby as planned, and then discuss maternity leave etc with your supervisor only if/when you're pregnant. Don't frame it as bad news - it's not! Just say you're happy to share this exciting news and would like to start making arrangements now about how best to balance your research with pregnancy/parenting. Good luck with everything!

My advice would be, unless there are any reasons why you should have a baby NOW, do your PhD and then think about a baby. Having a baby changes your head too, sometimes things that were important before are not important anymore - the old you will come back but for a year or two you may just wasn't to have a different life after having a baby. It is also a special time and, even if our children at times were making me and my partner absolutely mental, we were very happy to spend time with them, if you just ship them off your mum you'll lose special time that will never come back. You do not need to do everything at once. This is just my opinion of course.

Hello guys, i applied for a phd and i had an interview on 9 july 2018 and after interview the interviewer(supervisor) seemed to really appreciate how i did my proposal and even the answers given to the questions asked but i forget to ask when i should hear back the outcome.after 5days (it was on 16/07/2018) i sent a thanks note and she replied that she will process my proposal tomorrow(means on 17/07/2018) and till now no any update. May i send her an email to ask the update? How much time normally it takes to process a proposal? Is anyone who faces this situation?what can i do now?i am worried frankly speaking. Thanks for your responses to my queries.

Hi Dios, thanks for your comment. I'd recommend starting a new thread with your question :)

Thanks,
Holly (Moderator)