The article discusses some of the challenges faced by women who attempt to bear and raise children while pursuing academic careers. Examples are drawn from the author's personal experience as a wife, mother and college professor. Conflicts between professional academic duties and the demands of pregnancy and motherhood are analyzed from feminist, sociological and philosophical perspectives, and questions involving guilt, time management and formal versus informal leave policies are addressed. It is said that the culture of the academic world often reifies the gender expectations of the larger society.