Maternity leaves and adoption leaves are clearly treated differently by employers. The parent group FACE turned up some basic facts about leaves in a survey they conducted. FACE found that 95 percent of the employers surveyed had a policy allowing biological maternity leave, while only 39 percent had an adoption leave. Three-fourths of the employers provided paid maternity leaves, while less than a quarter offered paid adoption leaves. The rationale for offering paid leave for maternity and unpaid leave for adoption rested on the premise that pregnancy created a physical disability, while adoption did not. Most employers had health-insurance programs covering pregnancy expenses; only two employers provided adoption benefits.
