To think this is really unfair (maternity leave related)?

[Blyatiful]

DH has a colleague who is on parental leave for eight months. He and his wife had a baby via a surrogate outside of U.K. Because his wife doesn’t work (she is an “artist” and sells the odd painting) he is taking all of the parental leave on full pay. If his wife had given birth, he would have qualified for a few weeks paternity leave, but as they outsourced the birth, the employer is treating it as adoption leave, and as his wife doesn’t work, he is being treated as the main parent.

I want to think, good on him, but my horrible side is taking over and I think it’s quite unfair (and don’t get me started on the ethics of surrogacy, which may also be skewing my views).

What do you think is unfair about him taking leave?

If it was the woman who was your DP’s colleague, would you have had a problem with her taking maternity leave in this scenario? It wouldn’t be any different in practical terms, but might be more socially acceptable if it was a woman needing time off to look after a baby.

A male colleague of mine took nearly a year’s adoption leave when he and his husband adopted a child. Would that have been less acceptable if he was married to a woman? It would have the same effect on the business.