Nobody forces the moms either (though I do understand that dads don't breast-feed every 3 hours without sleep).

The point is that this means the "she will be off for X months" becomes less of a biological parts thing against women and more of a life-stage thing. Though the ageism might still strike here, as people plan to have kids later in their lives.

> Happy to dote when they start to turn into people.

Also specifically for the leave itself, a significant part of my paternity leave was just partner support by picking up everything else that was previously shared including shopping, cooking, laundry. Otherwise, it was just about generally being awake without worrying about the clock.

This all came to highlight when I went back to work after 3 months away, the transition to a 9-5 schedule was bad for everyone involved.