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The Milk of Human Kindness

by Pamela Paul
November/December 2007

I want to do what I went to school for years to do ~and~ I want to be a mom, I don't think we should have to make a choice.

Sophie Currier has more pressing things to do than spend this October evening talking to a reporter. In a day, her lawyers will head to Massachusetts’ Appeals Court to argue her lawsuit against the National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME); the case involves Currier’s request for additional break time during her medical boards so that she can pump breast milk. Next week, she’ll take that exam, known as the Step 2 Clinical Knowledge, which she must pass to graduate from Harvard’s M.D./Ph.D. program. Currier has already failed once. If she doesn’t pass this time, she will lose her residency in clinical pathology at Mass General. Meanwhile, her five-month-old daughter, Lea, wakes up hungry every two to three hours most nights, and her toddler, Theo, rises between five and six every morning. Not the best circumstances in which to cram for the most important test of her career. Still, Currier thinks it’s important to talk. “I want people to understand that this is a topic for all working women and for all of society to discuss.”

The propriety of breastfeeding in public is, in fact, generating considerable discussion. In September, about 200 protesters turned out in Lexington, Ky., for 34-year-old Brooke Ryan, who was asked by the management at the local Applebee’s to cover up while nursing. Subsequent protests spread to Applebee’s in 30 states. This past summer, Facebook banned a member for posting photos of herself breastfeeding; 30,000 people signed petitions in protest. Actress Maggie Gyllenhaal was recently both ridiculed and cheered for nursing in public, while on The View, Barbara Walters complained about a breastfeeding plane passenger. That kind of attitude frustrates Currier. “It’s not about whether people think it’s gross or they don’t want to see boobs; it’s about health,” she says. “We are mammals. We have evolved to feed our children.”

Currier, a 33-year-old MIT grad, is a youthful woman who talks quickly, as if she’s thinking so fast it’s hard to get the words out. Or perhaps she’s just busy: Currier had two babies in two years, timing her pregnancies to coordinate with her academic calendar. She took the same methodical approach to the Step 2 CK, a one-day exam consisting of eight one-hour testing blocks, plus 45 minutes of break time, which test-takers can divide throughout the day however they like. Diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD, she had already been allotted an extra day and a private room in which to take the test.

Then, in June, Currier wrote to the NBME requesting an additional hour of break time in order to pump milk. The board rejected her request, saying that it only accommodates conditions covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act. Currier was taken aback. Failing to pump can lead to clogged nipples and mastitis, an inflammation of the breasts, both of which Currier endured after the birth of her first child. Moreover, several specialty medical boards allow for such breaks.

While “sympathetic,” the NBME says that “the high stakes involved in assessing the competence of aspiring physicians to practice medicine require us to maintain rigorous and consistent standards that are fair to everyone taking the test,” according to spokesperson Ken Cotton. He notes that the NBME did offer Currier special accommodations, including permission to bring food, drinks, and pre-assembled pumps.

Unsatisfied, Currier turned to Bowditch & Dewey, LLP, which took her case—one with no known precedents nationwide—pro bono. On September 19, a Massachusetts Superior Court judge turned down her request, spurring several rounds of appeals. Following an October 5 ruling, Currier finally took the test with the requested extra time on October 10 and 11. Still, the board continues to press its appeal.

The matter has also played out in the court of public opinion. Neil Steinberg of the Chicago Sun Times mocked Currier’s wish to receive more than the time “given to the non-lactating rabble.” Nasty comments on her blog prompted her to close it down. On the other hand, Currier also received letters of support from breastfeeding women who took the exam without additional break-time—with painful consequences.

Awaiting her own test results, Currier says she has no intention of making activism a profession. “I want to do what I went to school for years to do and I want to be a mom,” she explains. “I don’t think we should have to make a choice.”