There is a wall between those who can adopt babies and those who cannot, and it is built of money.

Herbert Friedman, an adoption attorney in Boston, estimates that couples who adopt usually have combined salaries of at least $50,000 to $60,000. Some who earn less are able to adopt by dipping into savings accounts, taking out bank loans, or second mortgages, or borrowing from friends and relatives.

Increasingly, they also get help from employers. A handful, like the hamburger chain Wendy's, actively promote adoption, but most mainly want to make adoptive parents' benefits comparable to those of employees who bear children.

Several hundred companies nationwide provide workers with adoption aid, ranging from paid leave to large cash payments.

CMP Media, a computer publishing firm in Manhasset, N.Y., offers one of the most generous programs: $15,000 toward infertility treatments or adoption. MBNA America, the banking and credit card firm based in Wilmington, Del., gives employees $10,000 plus four weeks' paid leave. Wendy's, whose founder, Dave Thomas, is an adoptee, gives workers six weeks' paid leave plus $4,000 per adoption, or $6,000 for the adoption of a child with special needs.

Other major companies that provide benefits include Capitol Cities/ABC Inc., Microsoft Inc., the St. Petersburg Times, and United Parcel Service. Seven states have joined the bandwagon: Colorado, Montana, New York, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and Utah. Among Massachusetts employers are Beth Israel Hospital, Harvard University, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Elsewhere in New England, they include Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, the ice cream company Ben & Jerry's in Vermont, the Hasbro toy company in Rhode Island, and the toothpaste firm Tom's of Maine.

A few advocates, while lauding efforts to support adoption, argue the process isn't really that expensive.

``This is a capitalist system where the laws of the market work their magic,'' says Bill Pierce, president of the Washington-based National Council for Adoption. ``People don't seem to believe that $16,000 or $17,000 is too much for a new car. If we're going to have a quality service, you're going to have to pay for it.''

For more information, please contact:

Adam Pertman, Executive Director
Adoption Nation Education Initiative
apertman@peoplepc.com
www.adoptionnation.com
617-332-8944 (work)

© Adam Pertman