Yesterday I decided it was time to break down and let the powers that be at work know of our upcoming baby plans. I was kinda dreading explaining the whole process and answering the nosey questions. Turns out women from 5 cubicles over where listening in to my story and a small crowd gathered around me and the maternity coordinator. "Why India?" "How much did it cost?" "I saw this on Oprah!" "Are your babies going to be Indian?" All I wanted to figure out was how much time off Ruben and I were going to get.
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| This must be my HR coordinator. |
After a lengthy explanation, I was handed a 75 page "Maternity Packet." As I flipped through the packet later in the day, I wondered if anybody was listening to me at all. The packet was clearly not meant for me. Bullet number 9 was "How to discretely express and store your breast milk while at work", while Bullet number 2 explained the importance of not going into labor at work.
Later in the day I marched back into her office. "I'm not lactating, not adopting, and not going into labor. Ruben and I are leaving for India on December 14. What do you need from me?" She had no idea. After a 45 minute phone call to headquarters in Dallas, she still didn't know. Turns out a company with 80,000 employees doesn't have a clue what to do with 2 gay men working for the same company having children via a surrogate in India. Looks like somebody in Dallas is gonna have to get busy making a new folder for this scenario!
