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I'm a scientist and always worked fulltime, other than 6 months parental leave after my third adoption. All three of mine were Latin American adoptions so I was in their countries of origin 1-2 months, but I had to go back to work a day or two after we got home. For #1 there was NO parental leave, #2 and #3 there was but it was unpaid and there were no adoption subsidies like there are today for many.
I struggled with guilt for years, but the reality is that we needed my paycheck. As society has changed and it is more socially acceptable for women to work fulltime the guilt wasn't as bad, but it is always there.
I changed my career path from high profile scientific marketing with lots of travel to computer science with zero travel and the opportunity to work from home if I needed to, and for me that made a huge difference.
The reality of today's society is that it's the norm for women to work, and in most cases it's also a financial necessity. No need to feel guilty. I've always envied the women who had the opportunity to CHOOSE to be a SAHM mom, but it wasn't in the cards for me. Does that mean I don't have the same right to have children as a woman who married a wealthy man does? NO WAY!
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