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    You Know What I Mean?

    Dear Fayza: Must you tell potential employers that you're pregnant?

    Fayza A. Elmostehi
    Feb 1, 2011 | 2:31 pm

    Can you believe it? The long-awaited day is finally here — my advice column, "You Know What I Mean?" is finally up and running! Fueled by your questions, your drama, your dilemmas. I couldn't be happier that you're all so very functionally human.

    At last, I'll be solving all your problems and positioning myself as the savvy messiah in your life! Or perhaps I'll just provide my personal insight as to how you should manage your inner maelstroms. Feel free to crown me your hero later.

    Dear Fayza,

    I'm newly pregnant, but I've been looking for work through the past few months and starting to get several interviews. I've been considering temporary roles just to fulfill financial needs and stock up on money for baby time. This situation would be excellent — both parties win, with me fulfilling their need, while I earn the paychecks I need up to just a couple months prior to the baby's arrival.

    However, one of the most perfect jobs for what I've been seeking may present itself to me as a permanent hire. When do I tell them about my pregnancy without losing the job offer (assuming it's presented)?

    I'm at the stage where I can still hide the baby growth. This kind of role doesn't come up often where I live, and it's only five miles away with good pay, etc.

    While I thought I was previously considering temp work as my preference, a job like this is one that I wouldn't want to pass up. I would even consider returning to work after the baby, because it is too hard to let go of such a long-term opportunity.

    - Pregnant With Possibilities

    Dear Pregnant,

    As a woman, it's such a shame that we still must have these inner debates, isn't it? It's not like we're going to be incapacitated for months after we give birth, and yet, we feel like the child we're carrying is kryptonite for our careers.

    Instead of being penalized, our vaginas should be awarded blue ribbons for keeping the species going, if you ask me. But you didn't ask me that, exactly.

    We all know what the real question is. Would you get hired if you told the employer about your pregnancy now? Sadly, probably not.

    I mean, the company can't legally penalize you for what's in your womb, of course. But it'd be easy to nix you from the hiring pool based on those grounds, no matter what reason was given for ending your candidacy for the position. You'd never know the truth, anyway.

    But if you're still small enough to hide your belly during the interview process, then it's still a small enough (read: negligible) concern to your potential future company. As of now, the organization has plenty of time left with you and your bun safely baking in the oven before your belly begins to affect your work schedule.

    Perhaps some will find this controversial. But remember, this is your body — not your brain, not your resumé, not your experience, not your skill set. Unless the position calls for extensive travel or heavy lifting, your pregnancy won't affect your ability to perform your job duties in the short-term — or in the long-term, for that matter.

    And if this is a permanent position, as you've said, then I imagine the company is looking for someone substantial and lasting, which isn't changed by giving birth.

    Sure, your impending motherhood will be an issue in the future, but so is any employee's familial obligations or extracurricular activities. Those issues surface later, during the course of employment, not during the interview process, because they have zero impact on your job performance — and they shouldn't.

    Interviews are for determining whether you, not your uterus, is a good fit for the position. Besides, your uterus is otherwise occupied, thankyouverymuch.

    But then again, you can't lie.

    Whether you tell the company after the offer is given and accepted or once you start showing is up to you. But if they do rescind the offer after you break the news, the company subjects itself to a discrimination lawsuit. Because firing a woman because she's with child is, well, kind of illegal.

    Barring a messy lawsuit, you can still glide into mamahood and back to the daily grind unscathed. Once your belly starts protruding into noticeable territory (and after you've had the chance to prove yourself a valuable asset to the company, ahem), sit down with your boss and have the birds and bees talk with him or her.

    And be smart about it — have a plan of action for both your maternity leave and your return to corporate America. Your boss will appreciate your honesty and your proactive stance on what could be a dicey situation otherwise, and will appreciate you more as an employee as a result.

    It's just a matter of balls-ing up later rather than sooner, but you can do it, mama-to-be. Being a career-woman and a mommy aren't mutually exclusive.

    Want me to fix what's broken? Send an e-mail to advice@culturemap.com, or just message me on Facebook or Twitter — if you dare.

    unspecified
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    hottest headlines of 2025

    Houston's richest residents, best suburbs, and more top city news in 2025

    Amber Heckler
    Dec 22, 2025 | 3:45 pm
    Museum of Fine Arts, Houston gala 2025
    Photo by Wilson Parish
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    Editor’s note: As 2025 comes to a close, we're looking back at the stories that defined Houston this year. In our City Life section, readers will notice several of our local universities earned high praise from prestigious global and national publications. Houston's sprawling suburbs continued to skyrocket in popularity for their livability and safety, and no top-10 list is complete without mentioning the city's wealthiest residents. Read on for the top 10 Houston City Life stories of 2025.

    1. 2 Houston universities named among world’s best in 2026 rankings. These two high-performing local institutions – Rice University and University of Houston – are in a class of their own, according to the QS World University Rankings 2026. QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) compiles the prestigious list each year; the 2026 edition includes more than 1,500 universities from around the world.

    2. Richard Kinder is Houston's richest billionaire in 2025, Forbes says. The Kinder Morgan chairman is the 11th richest Texas resident right now, and ranks as the 108th richest American. Kinder also dethroned Tilman Fertitta to claim the title as the wealthiest Houstonian.

    3. 2 Houston neighbors shine as top-10 best places to live in the U.S. Pearland and League City, respectively, claimed No. 3 and No. 6 in U.S. News & World Report's annual "Best Places to Live in the U.S." rankings. The 2025-2026 rankings examined 250 U.S. cities based on five livability indexes: Quality of life, value, desirability, job market, and net migration.

    4. 5 Houston suburbs deemed best places to retire in 2026 by U.S. News. The Woodlands and Spring should be on the lookout for an influx of retirees next year, U.S. News predicts. Three more Houston-area neighbors also ranked among the top 25 best places to retire in America.

    5. Activist group calls out Houston highway as a 'freeway without a future'. A May 2025 report from Congress for the New Urbanism (CNU) included Houston's Interstate 45 expansion on its list of highways with infrastructure that is "nearing the end of its functional life." CNU claims further expansion of Houston's highway system could eventually lead to the loss of the city's bayous, while also diminishing the remaining flood-absorbing land.

    6. 10 things to know about America's first Ismaili Center opening in Houston. After nearly 20 years in the making, the long-awaited Ismaili Center, Houston finally opened its doors to the public. The 11-acre site was painstakingly designed and constructed to offer indoor and outdoor public spaces for all Houstonians to enjoy, connect, and engage.

    7. Houston billionaire Tilman Fertitta asking $192 million for superyacht. Fertitta, who owns the Houston Rockets and restaurant and hospitality conglomerate Landry's, decided to sell his 252-foot yacht, named Boardwalk, to make room for an even larger superyacht he is expected to receive in April 2026. Among numerous luxurious amenities, Boardwalk also features a helipad.

    8. 2 Houston neighbors rank among America's safest suburbs in 2025. Spring came in at No. 19 and West University Place followed at No. 21 in SmartAsset's August 2025 study, which is the first time the two Houston suburbs have made it into the top 25.

    9. Houston is one of America's most overpriced cities, study finds. This likely isn't a surprise to some Houstonians. The study, conducted by Highland Cabinetry, said Houston "struggles with heavy pollution and underwhelming income levels."

    10. 9 Houston universities make U.S. News' 2025 list of top grad schools. Among the newcomers this year are Houston Christian University and Texas Southern University. HCU's graduate education school ranks No. 21 in Texas, and TSU has the 10th best law school in the state.

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