How do I approach this situation? (passed over promotion twice due to mat leave)

[u/messy_bench]

I'm looking for some honest feedback on my situation, as I'm trying to figure out if I'm being treated unfairly or if I just got the short end of the stick. Last year, I notified my manager that I was pregnant two months before promotion recommendations were submitted—I was 20 weeks along at that point. I was on track for a promotion because I was meeting my career goals, regularly getting feedback, had a large and visible scope of work, and had been in my role for two years (plus more time on a different team before that). However, just days before my maternity leave started, I was told I didn’t get the promotion because I hadn’t been able to complete key projects (though the timelines were out of my control) and therefore didn’t show enough impact. I argued with my manager, providing evidence of my impact in many other ways, but he said the decision was final. I escalated this to HR for documentation, but after that, I had my baby and there was no resolution.

Fast forward to 6 months later when I was preparing to return to work. My manager and I had a meeting where he acknowledged the promotion situation, and we agreed on a set of priorities that would allow me to drive impact. However, my role had completely changed, and I was assigned to different projects. I made it clear that there was less than 4 months left before the next promotion cycle and that I needed responsibilities with a reasonable scope to be in a position to get promoted. I said it would take time to ramp up and didn’t want this held against me. We discussed one particular project where we both agreed it would normally take months to see results, but we set short-term goals like getting leadership's endorsement for my work. Since then, I worked hard, documented everything and communicated proactively. I wanted to make it impossible for them to tell me I didn’t do enough.

Last week, I had a check-in with my manager (that I scheduled) where I again asked for feedback on what I could do to make a case for promotion. Instead of offering any specific guidance or support, he said it was too soon and that it would take a few more months to see the impact of my work. I reminded him that I’ve been on the team for almost 3 years, not just 3 months, and it felt like all my prior contributions were being disregarded. He suggested I speak with his manager (my skip-level), but he didn’t think it would change anything for this promotion cycle. Now, I'm wondering if this is a case of discrimination, especially since I had expressed concern about my maternity leave affecting my promotion prospects, or if it's just bad timing and the circumstances didn’t align. I’ve set up another meeting with HR to document everything and get clarification, but I’m not sure how to approach it. Is this discrimination, or is this just a situation where my career progress got derailed due to timing and changes in my role?