MSD pays BRL 15 thousand in employee costs with adoption – 03/26/2023 – Market

Doctor Salma Bakhit, now 53 years old, had been thinking about adopting a child since at least 2015. An executive at the American pharmaceutical company MSD (Merck Sharp & Dohme), a specialist in pediatric oncology and pediatric hematology, trained in the United States, she had a solid career and was financially independent.

She was never married on paper and knew that motherhood would be a solo initiative – her boyfriend supported her, but he lived in American territory.

The original plan was to adopt a small child, aged 3 to 5 years. She officially started the process in 2017, but was only qualified for adoption in November 2018. I learned about the possibility of adopting a teenager, a less time-consuming path than that of babies and young children.

In 2019, through an application, A.Dot, which connects children from the National Adoption Registry with families across the country, she saw Paloma’s profile, then 15 years old, a resident of Londrina (PR). Through the Paraná city forum, they approached, in a slow and gradual way. With the pandemic, in 2020, communication continued at a distance. Only in early 2021, after a favorable court decision, did the young woman move to São Paulo to live with Salma.

The process was accompanied by a social worker and a psychologist. The adaptation of the two, of course, was not easy. For several moments, they had to decide whether or not to continue with the process. “She was a teenager with 1,000 questions in her head and a heavy life history, of abandonment”, recalls Salma, now associate vice president of medical and scientific affairs at MSD in Latin America.

“I told her that I was not a madam wanting to play mother, nor that she was a prize for me. I said that I wanted to build a relationship”, he says. The two understood each other and the final adoption sentence came out in September 2021. Now Paloma, aged 19, a 3rd year high school student, has the same last name as Salma.

“Today she really is my daughter, I have no doubt. Nor is she. And the relationship continues to be built. My daughter is forever.”

Salma Bakhi is part of the group of around 30 MSD employees who joined the benefit offered by the company in Brazil since 2020: the Adoption Project. This is an aid of R$ 15,000 for mothers or fathers (heterosexual or homosexual) who adopt children or adolescents.

The amount, paid only once per child, covers attorney fees and court costs; transportation, accommodation and food for the adoption process; medical expenses (up to inclusion of a dependent in the corporate health plan), including palliative care.

There is no limit to the number of adoptions. It is necessary to present the Judicial Term of Adoption or the Birth Certificate from the validity of the project (2020). Payment is requested at the end of the process and the employee is entitled to maternity leave (six months) or paternity leave (two months).

“Brazil was the third country in the world to adopt the benefit, after the United States and Puerto Rico”, says Elisa Mendoza, director of human resources at the MSD group. “Our goal is to support parents who want to adopt a child, from a financial, emotional and quality of life point of view.”

According to Elisa, interest in adoption has increased in the company. “People who intend to adopt are usually a little shy about talking about it. But when the process is handled in a normal and transparent way, and even encouraged, everything is easier.”

‘Having a child is a quantum leap’

Salma agrees. “In the beginning, I told my intentions to some colleagues, somewhat in secret, I didn’t want to expose a situation that was not yet defined. But, after the program was implemented, the HR people were very friendly, they gave me all the support I needed. needed”.

Support even came from management, which surprised her. “I got promoted after I got back from maternity leave,” she says. “That is, the adoption did not affect my career at all, quite the contrary. I was already a director, I had a position of great responsibility, which required a lot of travel and I was adopting alone – which meant having to be absent for a few moments . But people welcomed me so much, it was wonderful.”

Support also comes from MSD’s diversity and inclusion policy, according to Salma. “My daughter is of African descent, she has a different ethnicity from mine, which in Brazil represents a very big social challenge. These issues are also discussed in the company, which welcomes me.”

The executive considers that having a child represents a very big change in life. “It’s a quantum leap, regardless of whether he’s adopted or biological,” says Salma. “You become responsible for someone else, whom you need to inspire, lead, but at the same time respect their individuality”, she says.

“Of course there are extremely difficult moments, when you almost give up, when you reach your limit. But that makes you mature, broadens your horizons. Being a mother has made me happier.”