Three Days

Laetitia Sutil remembers the day her daughter Gaïa was stillborn. In January 2023, her daughter's heart stopped beating on the day she was supposed to be born. "I had felt her moving in my belly just before. I simply could not believe it", Sutil recalls. "I thought it could not be true, it must be the machine that was malfunctioning."[1]

Instead of preparing for their child's arrival, they had to organise a funeral.[1]

Eight months later, Sutil became pregnant again. She lost her son Gianni at 15 weeks. At the time, parents who experienced a miscarriage that early were not entitled to bereavement leave under Luxembourg law. She and her partner had to take sick leave to grieve.[1]

21 weeks

Luxembourg law grants extraordinary bereavement leave only if a baby dies after the 21st week of pregnancy. Before that threshold, there is no leave. There is no recognition. There is sick leave, if a doctor signs the form, and there is whatever the employer allows beyond that. The Stärekanner Association, a non-profit that supports bereaved families, argues that this is not right. Families suffering earlier miscarriages endure the same grief. They need the same support.[1]

Martine Pinnel, president of Stärekanner, insists that parents must be given time to process their trauma, to arrange a funeral if necessary, and to access psychological support. The association also calls for greater recognition of fathers, who too often are left to grieve in silence. Recently, the association shared the death of a "Stärepapp", a father who had lost a child. "Sadly, he lost his battle with overwhelming grief."[1]

Three days

After Gaïa's death, Sutil's partner was entitled to three days of leave. Three days. "He loved our child just as much and felt her movements through his hands", Sutil says. She believes the father's grief and role must be taken seriously.[1]

Three days. Not three weeks. Not three months. Three days to bury a daughter, to tell the family, to sit with a partner who is also grieving, to decide what to do with the nursery, to explain to friends that the baby they were expecting is not coming, to call the hospital, to sign the papers, to attend the funeral, to cry, to sleep, to not sleep, to wake up and go back to work. Three days.[1]

The coalition agreement

LSAP MP Claire Delcourt has raised urgent parliamentary questions, pressing the government to clarify when the long-awaited bill on extraordinary leave for parents affected by miscarriage will finally move forward. The reforms are in the coalition agreement. The reforms have not been implemented. If there is no progress by autumn, the LSAP plans to table a parliamentary motion.[1]

The coalition agreement says the reforms will happen. The coalition agreement has said this since the government was formed. The bill has not moved. The 21-week threshold remains. The three days remain. The fathers remain in silence. The Stärekanner Association continues to support the families the law does not. And the next parent who loses a child before the 21st week will take sick leave, because there is nothing else to take.[1]