I think that women are expected to fit into certain molds and we can experience real social sanctions when we are unable or unwilling to. Also the resulting depression is at best - downplayed, and at worst - largely ignored.

I deeply want to stay in science, as that is a huge part of my identity.  I've tried to retrain into a more useful scientific field - I don't think many non-profits are looking for gene jocks - but am not sure how far that will get me and the state budget crisis is hitting my new area hard.

Right now, though, I'm kind of stuck.  It's going to be a couple of months before I know how time consuming my son's disorder is going to be in the long term, but in the short term I need to be available for I don't know how many different screenings and specialists.  We're very fortunate in that there is a specialist for this type of rare disease about 1.5 hrs away, but that's still a block of time allocated to appointments.  My husband's job is going to be intense for the next couple of years and we're committed for financial reasons to sticking this out.  I just don't see committing to a full time job in the near future, and biology is not a part time field.