I was asked to leave an event for female founders because I had my baby with me. I don't think babies and business should remain separate.

• I was asked to leave a Y Combinator event after my baby cooed.
• It happened during a talk about nursing and pregnancy while growing a business.
• I don't feel I should have to separate my babies and my business.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Elena Brandt, the cofounder of Besample . It has been edited for length and clarity.

I never dreamed of a large family . I thought I'd have maybe two kids. But my husband, Mikhail, and I realized we adored having children. We have four — ages 8, 5, 3, and 6 months — and might still try for a fifth.

My career hasn't been held back despite being in the trenches of motherhood. I'm pursuing a doctorate in psychology at the University of Florida, and I'm the cofounder of Besample, a behavioral research startup that helps researchers gather data from outside the US.

I'm extremely passionate about the company because it solves a long-standing problem: Most scientific research is based on information from people in the US, while the other 95% of the global population is ignored. That leads to some serious flaws in research, which my cofounders and I hope to address.

I brought my baby to an accelerator when he was 3 weeks old

With personal and professional support, I've kept my career on track even while growing our family. When I was eight months pregnant , I discovered that Besample was accepted to Techstars, a three-month, in-person accelerator. My husband said he could care for the three older kids while I took the baby.

So, I showed up with my son, Darwin, when he was just 3 weeks old. Techstars was nothing but supportive. They asked if I needed space to nurse Darwin or put him down for a nap. During the demo night, which comes at the end of the accelerator, they celebrated Darwin as the youngest Techstars resident ever.

I got tickets to Y Combinator 's Female Founders Conference through Techstars. Y Combinator is a big deal in the startup world, and I was eager to be inspired by other female founders. I posted on LinkedIn that I thought it was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and wondered whether Darwin would make any baby friends. I expected babies would not only be welcomed but celebrated.

That wasn't the case for me.

I was asked to leave during a talk about growing a company while having an infant

Right away, I noticed no other babies. Then, I listened to Tracy Young, a mom and founder, talk about her mothering experience while starting a business . She discussed pumping before investment meetings and the other very physical, biological challenges of being a founder with an infant.

Darwin was in a stroller, and I was rocking him back and forth to sleep. When he started babbling and cooing, I moved to the back of the room. That's when someone approached me and said, "Would you like to stroll your baby outside? I want people to get the full experience out of this conference."

I later learned she was one of the partners of Y Combinator.

There's a tension in business about whether there's room for families

I'm not naming this woman because I think the problem is bigger than me or her. It's about this tension in the business world right now. To many people, including me, the COVID-19 pandemic showed that it was possible to be a hands-on mom and a hands-on business partner. Others want to maintain the status quo of keeping business and babies entirely separate.

To me, that's ridiculous. To ask me to leave with a quietly cooing baby during a talk that was explicitly about the challenges of being a mother and founder was shocking. I realized then that the monster of systemic barriers to entrepreneurs who are also moms was bigger than I'd realized.

I'd love to see meaningful changes for founders who are moms

I received a private apology email from the woman who confronted me, but I haven't heard anything from Y Combinator. To me, this shows how exclusive the incubator is. They make token gestures, like having a Female Founders Conference, but don't follow through with meaningful support to moms.

I'm not asking for much. Just don't ask me to leave. Trust that I would step out if my child were disturbing anyone.

If you really want to make a difference for parents, offer on-site childcare. Change the narrative that tells us that kids are a distraction. Instead, let's see them for what they are: the next generation who will care for us when we're older.

Imagine future innovators playing together at the Y Combinator day care. That would be the sort of meaningful change that would make a real difference for female entrepreneurs.

Editor's note: Y Combinator didn't immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.