Justine Lupe is ready to change the narrative around pregnancy and work. Yes, she was pregnant on the set of Nobody Wants This. And, no, it didn't threaten her job or get in the way of her work. In fact, contrary to the narrative we so often hear, it seems that the entire experience was pretty seamless.
A little context: Lupe stars in Nobody Wants This as Morgan, Joanne's bold older sister. While filming the show, Lupe discovered she was pregnant with her first child. As Lupe explained in a recent social media post, she didn't initially disclose the news to her colleagues. At one point, Lupe recalled, she was wearing a Gucci skirt that ripped open on set at 2am. “They had no idea I was pregnant and thought I was just rapidly falling apart,” she wrote.
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A number of outlets quickly jumped on the story with headlines describing how Lupe had to “hide” her pregnancy while filming.
Lupe took to Instagram yesterday to set the record straight about her experiences filming the Netflix show while pregnant. “Wanted to just make clear, because my words have (I’m sure with good intention) been cut up and rearranged into a misleading story a few times now,” she wrote in a new post. “I want to clarify that the cast and crew did know I was pregnant as soon as it was safe to share.”
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No, she wasn't “hiding” her pregnancy, she was merely choosing when to tell her colleagues. In fact, it turns out the set could not have been more supportive.
Justine Lupe goes on to describe how: “EVERY single person on this set made sure I was cosy and taken care of." Every one from her co-star Kristen Bell to the show creator Erin Foster to the costume designer Ally Greven to the cinematographer Adrian Peng Correia worked with her to ensure she felt safe, comfortable, and, most importantly, that she was able to do her job.
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It's easy to see why headlines jumped to paint a picture of a woman having to hide her pregnancy from her colleagues — unfortunately, that's still the most common story. But as Lupe explains, it is possible for women to be properly supported during their pregnancies at work.
“I say this all because there is a narrative that it’s a death sentence of sorts to become a mother in this industry,” she writes. “That your career will be over. That there isn’t room for us when we transition into this AWESOME new chapter of our lives. This new version of ourselves. And the narrative isn’t based on nothing, there is a long history of this being the case, but I do think that things are changing! I’ve been lucky enough to see some of my best friends do some bonkers incredible work pregnant or as new moms and it’s been hugely expansive. It seems silly to react to headlines being put out there but this set made me feel so safe creatively and interpersonally and I think it’s important for women to hear THIS narrative.”
Maybe the more we spread the positive stories about working while pregnant, the more open, accepting and supportive workplaces in every industry will become. Lupe's story is an uplifting reminder — pregnancy is far from a “death sentence” for a woman's career. And maybe it's time we embraced a new narrative.
