My husband works for a fairly big company in our area, one that employs several thousand people. Sometimes when you work for a company that big, your needs can feel lost in the shuffle. But we have always felt supported in one important way.

My husband's employer offers a $2000 adoption benefit. With each of our four adoptions, they have handed us a check, usually within a month of homecoming-- just in time to help pay for all those expensive airline tickets that we put on our credit card to get our child home.

An article in yesterday's New York Times entitled Breaking the Biology Barrier talked about the growing trend of employers to offer adoption benefits to their employees.

A 2006 survey of 1,000 companies by the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption found that 44 percent of respondents offered paid adoption leave, up from 38 percent in 2000. And 83 percent of those surveyed offered financial assistance for adoptions, up from 70 percent in 2000.

The companies surveyed ranged from small nonprofits to Fortune 500 corporations. In March the John Michael Kohler Arts Center in Sheboygan, Wis., a nonprofit organization with 65 employees, added three fully paid weeks of adoption leave for full-time employees, with three additional weeks at 50 percent of their pay. Bank Rhode Island, which has 300 employees, added four fully paid weeks of adoption leave in January.

“We see this as a significant increase, given the fact that in recent years companies have generally been looking for ways to cut expenses,” said Rita Soronen, executive director of the Dave Thomas Foundation, started in 1992 by Mr. Thomas, an adoptee and the founder of the Wendy’s fast-food chain.

I have heard of a couple families who have had to fight for their right to time off when their new children come home. But it seems that most businesses these days understand that a family expecting a new child through adoption should be entitled to the same amount and type of leave as one expecting a birth child.

It's even better if your employer also offers a cash benefit to help pay for the cost of adoption. For a list of employers who offer adoption benefits, visit Rainbowkids List of Employers offering adoption benefits