Tonks's pregnancy (Was: Working mothers in the series )

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 181856

Kemper wrote:
> > I guess I assumed she left because her pregnancy was an
abomination in the eyes of those in power.  If DH was book aimed at
adults, I could see those in power attempting to force an abortion on
Tonks, allowing her to live to set an example for others.
> 
> 
> Alla:
> 
> Oh, that is possible I agree. I am not talking about temporary
forced leave by people in power though, I am talking about Tonks
leaving work to stay home because she wanted to, you know?
> 
> I think if she left the way you describe, she always hoped to return
after the light wins. IMO of course.
>
Carol responds:
I think that Kemper is right. Tonks had barely learned that she was
pregnant when the MoM was taken over by Yaxley and other Death Eaters
(along with an Impeirused puppet minister). I doubt that she could
have kept her job even as the wife of a werewolf, much less the
prospective mother of a half-werewolf. Under normal circumstances,
pregnant Aurors could probably keep their jobs, and I see no reason
for Tonks to *choose* not to keep hers (or at least work in an office
to avoid endangering the child while she's pregnant). After all, her
spell-casting ability (or office skills, if any) would not be affected
by pregnancy. (I'm not sure about Metamorphmagus abilities: would
Tonks be limited to posing as some other pregnant woman?) However,
with the DEs in charge of the MoM, neither she nor her unborn child
would be safe. She might even be considered a criminal for marrying
and becoming pregnant by a so-called part-human.

If we accept OoP rather than GoF as our authority for Alice
Longbottom, she was apparently still an Auror when her son was a
toddler (no indication whether she took a leave of absence shortly
before or after the birth), but the department hadn't been taken over
by the enemy then, and her child, unlike Tonks's child, was a
Pure-Blood. Again, Alice may have transferred to a desk job to protect
her unborn child from dangerous spells (or avoid being killed in
action herself, which would take the child along with her), but
there's no indication that she stopped being an Auror. But I doubt
that Tonks would have had any such option.

IOW, we can't judge working mothers by Tonks, whose predicament is
unique. (I don't know of any other Aurors married to werewolves; I
doubt that it's happened before.) Even if she weren't pregnant, I
can't see her keeping her job with DEs in charge of the Ministry.

Carol, counting Alice Longbottom as another working mother despite
appearances to the contrary in GoF