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Should we really be asking the government for more money? I have to look at the overall picture. Because I had multiples, why does that put me in a special category? — Adrienne Stone
“And the reality is if you have one baby, you’re back to that stage a lot earlier, and if you have one baby, you can give it total undivided attention for that stage in its life.” But not all parents of multiples agree that both parents should receive the same amount of time off. Adrienne Stone is the mother of four children: Denyse-Noel, 8, Kaitlyn, 3, and twins Braxton and Caryssa, just 10 weeks old. She argues that the laws have to be in favour of the majority, and the majority of people still have single babies. While multiples are growing due to the rising age of mothers and therefore the use of fertility therapies, multiple births still only represent just over three per cent of all Canadian births. “Should we really be asking the government for more money?” asked Stone. “I have to look at the overall picture. Because I had multiples,
why does that put me in a special category?” Nicole Pylatiuk argues parents of multiples should receive the equivalent time off for two singletons, pointing out that a family with two children born at separate times will have two separate maternity leaves. But Stone says the extra leave isn’t necessary because there isn’t that much of a difference between taking care of twins and taking care of a singleton; twins don’t equal twice as much work. “I know, as a mom to two other kids,” she said. “I’m not spending twice the amount of time up with them. I’m probably awake 25 per cent more of the time.” She concedes that if she hadn’t already had the experience of raising two singletons, she might feel more overwhelmed than she currently does.
More maternity and paternity leave is crucial for providing proper care to multiple-births children, according to Gail Moore, past chair and formerly the advocacy co-ordinator for Multiple Births Canada. File phOTO
Continued on Page 7
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