It all started during a casual lunch when a coworker asked if I had kids or planned to have them. I responded honestly: “Nope, not having kids. I’m sterilized.” The table went quiet, and then came the usual condescending remarks about how I’d regret it someday. I brushed it off, thinking that was the end of it.

But a week later, HR called me in. Someone had apparently reported that I shared “medical information” that made them uncomfortable. I was stunned. Everyone else in the office constantly talks about pregnancies, daycare, IVF, and diaper blowouts, but me saying I had a tubal ligation was somehow inappropriate? The double standard was glaring.

I didn’t get written up, but I definitely got marked. Since then, coworkers have distanced themselves, and even someone I networked with unfollowed me on LinkedIn. I stopped eating lunch in the break room altogether. Being a happy, child-free woman in a workplace where parenting is the norm suddenly made me a silent threat.

I don’t regret my life choices just the part where I assumed honesty would be met with respect. In an office full of baby pictures and maternity leave gossip, apparently my story is too much to handle.