"My baby died at three-weeks and the law gave me only two weeks to grieve. It must change" Heartbroken Chesterfield parents who lost baby son launch petition to change ‘unfair’ law
Chesterfield parents who tragically lost their baby son are appealing for signatures under their newly launched petition.
Laura Hicklin, 32, and her partner Dale Barker, 32, tragically lost their three-week old son Toby in November 2023, after he was born with a congenital heart defect.
After Toby sadly passed away, Laura was given a year-long bereavement leave to grieve her son. But her partner Dale was told he could get only up to two weeks off – and was due back at work before Toby's funeral had even taken place.
Laura said: “It was disgusting to expect Dale to go back to work before the funeral. After Toby's passing, we had to dive straight into organising the funeral so we didn't give me enough time to even process what happened and grieve before the funeral.”
According to British law fathers are allowed have up to two weeks to grief their child while mothers can get up to 52 weeks bereavement leave.
Laura added: “After a tragic loss of a child we think two weeks is not enough time to bury or begin the grieving process. There is no time limit on grief.
"It's time we acknowledge that fathers deserve equal rights when dealing with such profound sorrow. This is not just unfair, it undermines the importance of both parents in a child's life and their shared grief when that child is lost.”
Last year, the couple launched a petition to change the law in a bid to allow fathers to have a longer bereavement leave. But after collecting over 2 200 signatures, Laura and Dale found out that their Change.org petition would not be accepted in parliament.
With the help from Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins, the couple have launched a new petition on the government website this month and are now appealing for signatures.
Laura added: “If this can be extended by a further two - four weeks it would be added time to be able to start a grief process. Our aim it to get this in to parliament to enable a change and help parents feel like they matter.
“Losing a child is awful. It’s too late to make a change for Dale and other parents who have already been through this. But if we can get this into effect, if a tragedy like this happens in the future, at least other parents will be able to have time off to grieve and process such a huge loss.”
Chesterfield MP Toby Perkins said: “I have been providing support to Laura and Dale to set up this petition and I am pleased that it has now been accepted by the petitions committee and gone live on the government website. I urge people to sign the petition and hopefully get this debated in Parliament.
Unless it has happened to you, no one can truly understand the pain and grief that parents go through when they lose a child. We need changes so that parents have the time and space to arrange a funeral, support each other through their grief and process such a tragic loss.
“I want to commend Laura and Dale for their strength and dedication in pursuing this campaign on behalf of all parents and hope their petition gets the support they deserve.”