When Liza Ebbecke received a letter from her employer, she thought something had gone wrong. What she learned was that she was no longer allowed to continue working during her pregnancy, but would continue to receive her pay. The 32-year-old had moved to Germany in 2018 after meeting her husband while traveling through Southeast Asia. At the time, she says she knew very little about German maternity policies and never imagined that she would eventually raise a child abroad. Over time, however, she noticed coworkers disappearing on extended maternity leave before eventually returning to work. Slowly, Ebbecke says she began understanding how differently Germany approached pregnancy and early parenthood compared to what she had seen growing up in the United States. On her first day home, Ebbecke worried about how she would fill so much free time, but she soon began to fill her days with hobbies, long walks with her dog, and quiet routines that allowed her to slow down before becoming a mother. During the first year of her son’s life, Ebbecke says she attended swimming and music classes with him, while building friendships with other moms living nearby. Looking back now, Ebbecke says the version of motherhood she experienced in Germany completely changed how she viewed support, balance and family life. What originally began as a temporary move abroad eventually became an entirely different life than she once imagined for herself.
