[LisaCA]

this is a difficult question. my dh does work at a large aerospace company and he did let his boss know while we were doing our paperwork that sometime down the line (we hoped this summer) he would be taking time off at the drop of a hat to travel and pick up our child. His boss was fine, mostly because my husband has about a year's vacation built up and was afraid to say anything lest he take it all:-). not to fear, dh's workaholic nature kicked in and he went back to work after a week, much to my dismay.

my job was another story. everyone knew we planned to adopt, but no one asked. I too work as a tenure tracked professor. turns out our health plan was based on disability, thus only pregnant women are allowed to take it. As with most things at colleges, this is "negotiable" based on the authority you have at the college. I decided, after much thinking, just to finish working this academic year and then leave my job. I turned in my resignation last week. I don't plan to be a stay-at-home mom most of the time, but I would like more time with my daughter and I felt that academia didn't allow the flexibility I thought it would. In fact, dh and I are going insane trying to handle two fulltime jobs (and this is with a nanny!). So I suspect I'll work part time as an adjunct or find another type of work, maybe as an independent research consultant, who knows. To be honest I really hated parts of my job (the endless committee meetings, the bs, the increasingly high standards placed on the untenured because of all the people who want our jobs, being judged by those who haven't published in decades, the list goes on. As academics our work day begins in the early morning and doesn't end til we go to bed, and that didn't allow for any time really to be spent with my family. I felt that one workaholic per family was probably all we needed. to say the school was shocked when I turned in my resignation is an understatement. Now all i have to do is win the lottery:-). Actually when you factor in the nanny I was bringing home very little, another joy of academia. Our school has a daycare but your child needs to be 2 years old. exactly what you're supposed to do with her til then seems to be up to you:-).

that's just my experience, and with everything in academia, it depends on your power and status in your little academic pond. Everyone was very supportive of my adoption plans, just as long as I keep teaching and researching and publishing.

good luck and I hope it works out for you. It has for many academics that I know.

lisaCA