I remember when the big tech companies started offering an egg freezing benefit in addition to IVF. I hope they also offer flexible work for new moms and dads as well.
But the US as a whole needs to do better, we are way behind the curve.
When my first was born there was no paternity or maternity leave. Apparently it was unpaid FMLA or use your PTO. Thankfully it was "unlimited" PTO and I've not yet encountered any shadow limits. (Though did have to get VP approval for 15 consecutive days.)
Many places are still like this . I had to use pto in addition to working 60hours when I got back after one week for the birth of my son. I ended up leaving this job due to the stress on my marriage and health . Unfortunately many people do not have that privilege
for those outside the US, based on my quick google: PTO means "paid time off" and FMLA I think means "family and medical leave" (the abbreviation is for the family and medical leave ACT). FMLA provides provisions to take UNPAID leave. PTO seems to cover both holidays and paid sick leave.
Please correct me if I'm wrong any US person.
I'm guessing from the context of getting VP approval for 15 days compared to my wife who took off a year in approximate half-pay through various combinations of annual leave, maternity leave, and long service leave and gov payments that the talk of not bumping into shadow limits has to do with cultural expectations of how much leave you'll take and that you'll be soon back to work rather than actually they're being no shadow limits. By which I mean my wife's actual case would so obviously hit up against any shadow limit that practically no one would try it on, but I'm happy to be educated on that too...
For context, I managed to take 3 months off on about half pay through similar leave gymnastics...
But the US as a whole needs to do better, we are way behind the curve.