Vetnews | Augustus 2025 14 « BACK TO CONTENTS Leading Article respondents said they had experienced at least one miscarriage, which is higher than nationally reported rates of 8–20% (15). Reasons for the higher rates are unknown, but delaying pregnancy due to career choices and/or lack of accommodations and unsafe workplace environments may be contributing factors, as it is widely accepted that veterinarians face numerous hazards to reproductive health in the workplace (16). This study also showed higher rates of fertility treatment (17.6%) as compared with national rates (12%) (15), and higher rates of self-reported post-partum depression (over 30% in this study as compared with about 10% reported by the CDC) (17, 18). However, subclinical depression is underexplored and should be an important component of future research in this area. Infertility has previously been shown to evoke distress, anxiety, and feelings of failure, loss and pain (19). This initial survey of veterinary mothers indicates that rates of infertility, and as a result, stress associated with infertility, may be higher among the veterinary profession, contributing to recent literature and commentary on mental health in the veterinary profession. Additional data to determine if this is true across more diverse samples of female veterinarians is needed. The higher rate of fertility treatment observed among our sample may be associated with intentional delays in starting a family among the profession due to the perception that it is not feasible to do both at the same time (7), however more research is needed to determine the drivers of fertility treatment among veterinary women, as well as the financial burden of fertility treatment on a profession known to be plagued by high student debt upon graduation. Veterinarians who worked in large animal practice were more likely to have experienced discrimination than veterinarians in other specialities. A recent study found that among veterinary surgeons, large animal private practitioners worked longer hours and had the most on-call responsibility, and that women earned less than men in this field even after adjusting for all relevant covariates (20). In another study of veterinary surgeons, the same group found that women in large animal practice were less likely to be married, in a domestic partnership, and to have children compared to women in small animal practice (14). Collectively, these findings indicated that there are differences in work culture regarding gender dynamics among subspecialties in veterinary medicine, and that issues surrounding gender equity and maternal discrimination warrant closer attention—and provide an opportunity for meaningful intervention—across the profession.Women in veterinary medicine (14, 20) and STEM professions in general are adversely affected in terms of their earning power and having children may widen the gap. “Even mothers who remain in the professional workforce full time encounter stereotypes painting them as less competent than equally qualified men and childless women, and face salary penalties and career barriers even while contributing the same dedicated work” (5). Maternal discrimination and lack of perceived support for veterinarians who are also parenting contributes to the mental health load and stress of many. This survey was a convenience sample administered through a Facebook group, and limitations include a lack of diversity among respondents, possible selection bias and small sample size. Additional studies are needed to determine if these data are replicable in a larger population of veterinary mothers in the US. Despite these limitations, the high frequency of perceived discrimination among veterinarian mothers should be considered when thinking about the future of the profession and how to support current veterinarians. Recently, an article with a description of parental leave policies during medical training was published and included a call to action in the medical profession (21). The results from this study and prior related work (7, 8) support the need for similar recommendations in the veterinary profession and indicate that veterinarians want changes. Qualitative comments from participants in this survey said, “I feel like we are still in the dark ages. I faced discrimination when all three of my children were born, and it has continued. My children were referred to as parasites. My maternity leave was considered a hardship for my co-workers. The other women without children I work with are resentful and have continued to insinuate I don’t work as hard [as they do] due to my children.” “During veterinary school, one of the doctors in the clinic during my fourth year told me that I could choose to be a mother or a doctor, but I couldn’t do both effectively. She was a woman. I’ll never forget how that statement made me feel, as I already had two children. It was terribly deflating.” The real changes needed to accommodate all veterinarians who also wish to be parents and have work-life balance are far reaching and require commitment at all levels of training and employment. In order to continue to attract top level talent and to create successful long-term careers, the professional organizations should consider implementing changes that support veterinary mothers (and fathers). The findings from this study support the need for future research in this area to further encourage changes to the profession that support veterinarian mothers and fathers as well as to further describe the ways in which maternal and gender discrimination impact the profession and how changes can be incorporated into veterinary medicine in a sustainable way. v DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT The datasets generated for this study are available on request to the corresponding author, pending IRB approval. ETHICS STATEMENT The research was reviewed and granted exempt status from the Tufts University Social, Behavioral and Educational Research Institutional Review Board. The ethics committee waived the requirement of written informed consent for participation. AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS AW, MM, and MR contributed to the design of the survey. AW and MR distributed the survey and reminders to closed groups via social media platform. MM and MR performed quantitative data analysis. AW compiled and sorted qualitative data. AW, MM, and MR. References available on request. https://pmc.ncbi. nlm.nih.gov/articles/ PMC7069349/?ref=blog. modernanimal.com
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