In Margo Has Money Troubles, Rufi Thorpe tells the fictional story of a bright, resourceful young woman whose future derails when she becomes pregnant in college. Margo is an English student at a junior college. She has a short-lived affair with her English professor, and discovers a few weeks later that she’s pregnant. Instead of receiving support from her school or professor, she’s forced to leave. Just like that, her academic dreams dissolve.
What makes Margo Has Money Troubles so compelling is not just Margo’s voice—funny, sharp, and painfully honest—but the way it exposes a troubling reality: pregnancy discrimination in education is not fiction. It’s happening across the country, and it’s cutting too many stories short.
The Real Problem Behind Margo’s Story
In the United States, Title IX legally protects students from discrimination based on pregnancy or parental status. Yet, many women still face subtle—and sometimes blatant—barriers when they choose to carry a pregnancy while enrolled in school. They’re pressured to drop out, denied accommodations, and often shamed by peers or faculty. Like Margo, they are made to feel that motherhood and education are mutually exclusive.
Margo’s school doesn’t force her out with legal threats; they do something more insidious. They make continuing impossible. There’s no housing for single mothers. No childcare. No flexibility in her schedule. Rather than help her thrive as a pregnant student, the system quietly edges her out. It doesn’t help that even her part-time job at a restaurant-bar also fires her because she can’t find childcare to make her shifts.
This isn’t just bad policy—it’s a loss for all of us. When a student like Margo leaves, we don’t just lose a potential graduate. We lose her ideas, her voice, her future contributions to the world.
Also read: Meeting Her Needs with Love, Compassion, and Action
The Silence Around Pregnant Students
Most campuses pride themselves on being inclusive spaces—yet pregnancy is often left out of the conversation. Many schools have no visible resources for student parents: no designated lactation rooms, and no mental health support specific to the challenges of young motherhood. This silence sends a loud message: you don’t belong here.
Margo internalizes that message. She assumes she has no other choice. So she drops out, is threatened by her professor’s family to not return in order to preserve his reputation, and begins a difficult journey of survival. Her resilience is admirable—but her isolation is heartbreaking.
Imagine a different version of this story. One where Margo is met with encouragement instead of shame; where she’s connected to a student parent group. One where her school offers flexible scheduling, on-campus childcare, and professors who understand how to accommodate a pregnant student’s needs. That story shouldn’t be fiction—it should be the norm.
What Can Be Done
Save the Storks exists to help rewrite that narrative. By supporting pregnancy health clinics, advocating for life-affirming policies, and amplifying the stories of real women who endure pregnancy discrimination in schools and the workforce, we’re fighting back against the lie that a baby is the end of a woman’s future.
Colleges must do better. And so must we. Here’s how:
- Raise awareness: Encourage your local college or university to post their Title IX pregnancy protections online, and make them accessible.
- Advocate for accommodations: Schools should offer housing, childcare, and academic flexibility for student parents.
- Support student moms: Whether through peer mentorship, material support, or community, we can show women that motherhood is not a disqualifier.
- Tell their stories: Share real-life testimonies of mom students who continue on to graduation and other amazing feats, to keep these stories in the spotlight.
A New Kind of Campus
When a woman chooses life in the face of pressure to give up her education, she’s not weak—she’s heroic. And she shouldn’t have to do it alone. We can create a world where stories like Margo’s have a different ending. Where pregnancy isn’t a detour from success—but a part of a fuller, more powerful journey.
Let’s stand up for student moms. Let’s make campuses places where life is celebrated—not silenced.
Read next: Pro-Life Groups Who Help Girls Become Ready for Motherhood
Help more moms receive the support they need by donating today.
