Not quite the same, but I was going to work with kids in my
   early 20s. I did for a bit: volunteered full time at a cerebral
   palsy center for a solid year. Loved it. They offered me a job.
   I was so excited. But, I didn't take the deadlines for medical
   checkup and stuff seriously enough. I figured there was leeway.
   Nope. No leeway. I had plenty of time to do everything and
   didn't, and on the deadline date, I was missing 1/2 of what I
   needed to give them. Got called in, and that was that. *and* I
   couldn't go back to volunteering because of the possibility of
   retribution. It was a law - Believe it or not, that's an issue:
   if someone gets fired they can cause problems, and being a
   delicate population, the laws are justifiably very cautious in
   that area, so I couldn't blame them. I was heartbroken for days
   and kicking myself. Some of the parents asked me to work with
   their kids on the weekends and stuff but I just couldn't even
   think about that. I was too emotional to think straight. After
   getting over the sadness of it, I thought about other careers
   but then I looked down at my hand. No wedding ring. No picture
   of a girlfriend in my wallet to show people. At that time I was
   inbetween dating, idealistic about "saving the world" in my own
   fashion and didn't want the relationship turmoil. I though, 'How
   does this appear? Single white male in his early 20s, wants to
   work with children". Shit. I knew I'd have to fight against
   skeptical eyes, murmurs and whispers, little comments and such.
   Not from all or most, because most people aren't judgemental.
   But, a few ALWAYS are - and the fear of those few made me decide
   to scrap the idea altogether and pursue other work. I don't
   regret it, not really. It's the kind of work I could pursue at
   any point in life. I had other skills, more profitable, less
   idealistic, and I pursued those instead. But I felt bad for
   those who were all idealistic with good hearts and no fall back.
   I didn't fear conforming to all the stereotypical fears: I'm not
   that way. But I feared matching _some_ of the characteristics,
   enough for people to jump to conclusions. Wasn't worth the
   strain. It can be an uphill battle when you don't conform to
   stereotypes and people desperately expect you to. Sometimes the
   battle isn't worth it.