When our middle son was born with Down Syndrome & a serious congenital heart defect (complete surprise!) he was medically fragile & required BOTH of us to have time off work for an extended period of time (3 open heart surgeries — 2 at 9 & 10 months & 1 at 2.5 yrs). We didn't even know if he would live to have the surgeries...it was 24/7 extreme care and we were so darned lucky that Charles’s job was understanding & gave generous time at his birth so that we could adjust to the gravity & exhaustive nature of it all (constant doctor apptmts, NO sleep, massive stress, also had a toddler).
He went back to work after a month or so & Julie stayed home. If he had not had a wonderful union job where they were supportive & understanding, not sure what we would have done. Most folks don't have that.
The hardest thing about this situation was thinking of others who, if they had landed in our situation, would have been left out in the cold with no leave or unable to take the unpaid leave.
We learned that strong, employer-supported & employer-respected families create a strong employee-employer relationship. Paid family leave is the human, absolute right thing to do if you believe in hiring human beings instead of robots.
