In Reply We thank Martinino et al for their letter in response to our article.1 They provided a thoughtful discussion of the challenges many female surgeons face when pursuing a career in academic medicine and family planning. In a recent study including 535 female otolaryngology–head and neck surgeons in the US, 43% of respondents stated that having a child influenced the decision to pursue department or practice leadership roles, and 30% of respondents agreed that taking maternity leave affected their number of opportunities for career advancement.2 We agree with Martinino et al that these existing inequities can be perpetuated in the context of additional stressors such as the COVID-19 pandemic. These findings also raise the question of how to better support women in surgical specialties at an institutional level. Some proposed strategies include mandating paid parental leave, implementing processes to meet training requirements after parental leave, and creating strategies to mitigate the burden of leave on other colleagues.