If you have tickets to an event at the 2012 Olympics in London you won’t be able to bring your newborn along, unless you happen to have an extra ticket. Even though the majority of tickets were purchased 15 months in advance, organizers are telling parents with babies that they need to buy an extra ticket, even if the baby will be seated on their laps. Many ticket holders are furious and the move is being cited as discriminatory against new mothers.
Babies who will enjoy the games from a parent’s lap will need a ticket for a seat in the arena, even if the seat is nowhere near where the parents are sitting. For those who bought their tickets before becoming parents, the policy has put them in a situation where breastfeeding mothers are excluded from the events unless they can find and afford a spare ticket. The situations has raised red flags for the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which stated:
“A business must not do something which has a worse impact on you and on other people who share a particular protected characteristic, such as gender, than it has on people who do not share that characteristic. Unless the business can show that what they have done is objectively justified, this will be what is called indirect discrimination. It could be argued that women are more likely to have child caring responsibilities and thus this policy might have more of an impact for women, but as stated above the business might be able to justify this potential discrimination.”
A spokesman for organizers of the 2012 Games said they are reviewing the policy.
Do you think parents of newborns are being discriminated against?
London 2012 Olympics: Sex Discrimination Case Emerges For Banned Mothers And Babies [HuffPo]
Saints Quarterback Drew Brees and his wife Brittany are expecting their third child! The famous football player tweeted on January 20th: “Thanks for the well wishes to Brittany and Baby #3. She is 2 1/2 months. Training camp baby. Bowen wants a lil bro, Baylen a lil sis”
The newest addition will join big brothers Baylen Robert (3) and Bowen Christopher (15 months) and it looks like no matter what, one of the boys will get the sibling he wants!
Congratulations to the happy family!
Were you rooting for the Saints to get into the Super Bowl?
February 3rd, 2012 
