For lots of mothers-to-be trying to strike the right balance between work and home life can be difficult, but even more so for those who depend on their body for their income.
Now a pregnant sex worker has spoken out to defend her right to choose whether she continues to see clients as she enters her second trimester.
“I want to make a statement that supports the right of a woman to choose to work as a prostitute while pregnant,” Summer Sebastian wrote in an open blog.
Sebastian, 30, recently found out she was expecting with her long-term partner – who is forty years older than her at 70.
Just before she discovered she was pregnant, Sebastian had moved from Florida to Nevada, USA, to work as a fully legal prostitute in one of the state’s licensed brothels – Bunny Ranch.
After pursuing her career to fund her Masters degree in forensic pathology, Sebastian has made the decision that she won’t be giving up her dreams and plans to work until the day she gives birth.
In fact, she says that the surge of pregnancy hormones has meant her sex drive has been going up.
Sebastian says her decision shouldn’t be considered in isolation, as it is part of an effort on her part to encourage women to make the right choice for them, rather than be pressured out of work.
“If society already looks down on me for being a working girl (even though legal), you can imagine what they will probably think of a pregnant working girl,” she wrote.
“Even other working girls sometimes look down on pregnant working girls. But I’ve never been one to let myself be intimidated by what others thought.”
Currently Sebastian is following the advice of her own doctor, and the online Mayo Clinic, explaining that it is safe for her to continue working, as long as she is comfortable and practicing safe sex.
Sebastian, who describes herself as the ‘Pregnant Girlfriend Experience’ says she doesn’t know the gender of her baby, but is hoping for a little boy who she will name Jesse.
Read more on her blog here.