Illustration: Linda Yan
Nadia Bechai was in her early 30s and working toward making partner at a boutique downtown-Toronto law firm when she got pregnant with her first child?but it didn?t slow her down. She continued to put in long hours, taking on files that would advance her career, and she planned on jumping right back into work after five or six months of maternity leave. ?I was very career focused,? she says. ?I was not the kind of woman who envisioned myself really enjoying children and children?s activities.? But Bechai?s feelings toward motherhood?and her career?changed after her son, Noah, was born.
Not ready to leave her baby with a nanny as soon as she?d planned, Bechai extended her leave. She went back to work when Noah was 11 months old, but longed to be at home with him. When she went on mat leave with her twin girls, born two years after Noah, she was up front with her bosses about not coming back before a year. Eleven months into her leave, she resigned. Quitting her job wasn?t an easy decision: Bechai was raised to pursue a career, and most of her friends were lawyers or other professionals. She saw throwing in the towel on her job as a sign of weakness. If other women managed to juggle a career and kids, why couldn?t she" After months of trying to quash her true feelings, she admitted how she really felt: ?I wanted to be home. I wanted to be the one to have the challenges of motherhood, and I wanted to be the one to have the joys.?
Julia James, a car...