LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- A new Kentucky law went into effect Tuesday, giving adoptive parents an equal opportunity to bond with and care for their new child.
"It's Etta Jo's Legacy I think. I think she was brought to me, for me to see this problem and to move forward with trying to get it fixed," said Miranda Combs, a mother of three.
Etta Jo is nearly two years old now but Combs, her adoptive mom, says her start wasn't ideal.
Etta Jo had Neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) when Combs's family adopted her in 2019.
"She was detoxing at home instead of in a hospital setting, which in some ways made it quicker, but at the same time it was very painful on the family, very painful on her, to watch her go through that," said Combs.
Because Combs was an adoptive parent, at the time, she had to go to work a week and a half after bringing her daughter home.
"We need more time with these babies. We don't need to be restricted by our vacation time or anything like that. We need to be treated the same as birth parents," said Combs. "Most people will tell you they didn't know this was the case in the first pace, and I didn't either when we looked into adoption."
Miranda Combs and family on day of Etta Jo's adoption.
Combs now works as the communication director for Kentucky's Secretary of State, and Etta Jo became the face of House Bill 210.
Now as a law, it ensures employers offer parents adopting a child under the age of 10 the same amount of paid time off as birth parents.
"It's not only important to the parents, it's important to the child as well no matter the age," said Combs. "They need the same amount of time and same relief from work and opportunities that any parent would get."
"It really needed to happen. Our adoptive families adopt children and need to bond with them and adjust to parenting just like a family that has given birth to a child," said Julie Erwin, Director of Adoption Assistance.
Erwin, who started Adoption Assistance two decades ago, believes having time to adjust and bond is as important for the children as it is the parents, and is glad to see the law include older children as well, since she finds they often need more time to adjust.
"The fact they had the foresight to make that to age ten is really beneficial," said Erwin.
She says the new law has brought a lot of excitement to the adoption community.
"We've gotten feedback from families that think 'Oh, I wish they would've had this when we adopted' and then we also got feedback from families saying 'This is awesome, this is going to help us out,'" said Erwin. "We even had feedback from one of our families that owns a business that said 'This is great, we just changed our own handbook.'”
"I'm just thrilled, and the family's thrilled that other people will have the opportunity to have time with their adoptive child," said Combs.
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