This is a similar attitude that you sometimes still see in employers with pregnant employees. Your total justification seems to be that because it was hard for

This is a similar attitude that you sometimes still see in employers with pregnant employees. Your total justification seems to be that because it was hard for you, it will be hard for others too. Fwiw my partner got her PhD part-time while working for the university as a researcher and consultant, actively authoring and publishing papers. It took her many years, but mostly it was finishing that was tough.