hey all,
i just got an admission to Duke and discovered i am pregnant with my second child, contemporaneously with the admission email. do i have to defer?how do the mothers out there deal with it? please advise! time is running out!

Hi,
I did my llm at HLS with a 2 year old daughter (my husband was doing the same program). However, with a newborn (not to mention 2 kids) it might be difficult, unless there would be someone for the full time to help you. Anyway, if you are pregnant now and would expect the baby to be born in a couple of months, you probably do not have any option but to defer and then think it over during the next year.
Best, K.

thanks,
it will be sad to defer. i think the baby is due in December or January. If I have full time help, is it absolutely necessary to defer? i waited for this admission for months!

I would contact the administration about this. They will openly advise you about this. I am currently enrolled in the LLM program at Duke and during this year one LLM got a baby. His partner was not working and able to help. His mom also came during several months to provide with some assistance.

Duke is a very family friendly place.

Also it is a cheap place to live so you can rent a bigger appartment.

I imagine you could definitely do the LLM with a baby (I know plenty who have) but having the baby during the LLM would be difficult. My course at CLS was extremely intense so even taking a month out would have made it almost impossible to complete.

One other thing to think of, would US immigration let you in the country for a year long program if you are 4 months pregnant? I am not sure they would but I could be wrong on that. Where I come from some pregnant women get stopped at immigration and told to return home if it is clear they are going to have their baby there...It is crazy but there you have it. You would only be 4 months though so you could hide it. I would probably wait a year and then do my LLM when the baby is one-year old and get my partner to look after it...

I definitely agree with flygirl. Things happen when you are pregnant and even with perfectly healthy mother it might turn out necessary to stay at home in the bed or even go to the hospital for some time for an observation. These are not any anomalies and you definitely should take it into consideration and be prepared for any possibility. I was pregnant when I was a student in my home country and I managed to complete my program on time only because I was in the setting that was familiar to me, because some unexpected circumstances occured. This can really ruin your plans and in a foreign country you are much more vulnerable to such conditions. Not to mention discomfort and additional hassle of planning your labor and the months that will follow during a very intensive program.
But, since you already have a baby, you probably should know best whether it is manageable. Good luck!

hey all,
i really really appreciate all your encouragements and advise. regarding immigration, i am a permanent resident here and currently employed full time. Duke's LLM has been my dream for ages! the first child was a c-section and i had complications as well. i had the baby here. luckily my husband is supportive. i hate to defer, and want it to be the last option. i also wanna be excited about the baby- it's kinda hard. u know when u get a winning lottery ticket then discover it's expired? Can Duke allow me to do a semester- take a mth's break, then continue with the nxt semester? the baby is due in dec/jan nxt year. thanks guys!

I don't think that you would have the right not to come to class for something like a month.

The advise I would give you besides as I said to contact the student affairs administration or the LL M administration is maybe to take a lot of credits during the first semester so that you can have a more relaxing second one.

you might be able to do one semester take a semester off and the rest the following year.

You need to ask the university about what you have the right or not to do.

You need to be fully informed before taking any decision.