Military Parental Leave: Maternity and Paternity Leave
Active-duty members and full-time Guard and Reserve members (and reservists on orders of more than 12 months) get 12 weeks of parental leave after a birth, adoption or long-term foster placement. It is not charged to ordinary leave and is generally used within a year. Drilling Selected Reserve members get 12 four-hour inactive duty parental leave periods instead.
Use the calculator to find your last day to use the leave and the end date of each block you plan. For pay while on leave, see the military pay calculator.
Maintained by Archie Chang · Rules checked against 10 U.S.C. 701(h) and DoWI 1327.06 para 3.11.c October 25, 2026 · Methodology & sources
Parental leave window calculator
Enter the date of the birth, adoption or placement to see your leave window.
This is an estimate. Your commander approves every block of leave, and your Service may apply the rules differently. Dates are shown as the safest reading of the DoD text: starting the day after the event and ending the day before the anniversary, so you are not caught by the reading that counts the window from the event date. It does not model several events close together, deployment deferrals or ordinary leave taken between blocks. Leave is counted in calendar days (12 weeks is 84 days).
Maternity leave in the military (birth parent)
A birth parent gets 12 weeks of parental leave following a period of convalescence from childbirth. Convalescent leave is not part of the 12 weeks and is not chargeable. It requires your health care provider's written recommendation to address a diagnosed medical condition and your unit commander's approval. DoD policy says it is tailored to your medical needs rather than a predetermined formula, so there is no fixed number of days to quote. It starts the first full day after the birth or your release from the hospital, whichever is later, and the stretch right after childbirth is taken in one increment.
The 12 weeks then run inside the one-year window that starts with the birth, so a long convalescent period does not extend the deadline. There is no parental leave before the birth: the leave is tied to the birth, adoption or placement. Pregnant members with complications can be granted convalescent leave as treatment when a provider recommends it in writing and the commander approves.
Paternity leave in the military (non-birth parent)
Since December 27, 2022 the non-birth parent has received the same 12 weeks as the birth parent, within one year of the child's birth. Before that date, separate primary and secondary caregiver rules applied. The non-birth parent has no convalescent leave for the birth, since convalescent leave may only be authorized for a member's own medical condition. A member whose child is born outside of marriage must have parentage established under the criteria of their Military Department.
Adoption and foster care
Adoption, placement for adoption and placement for long-term foster care each carry 12 weeks, used within one year of the placement or the adoption. A birth through surrogacy is treated as an adoption. You are not given another 12 weeks if a foster placement converts to an adoption, or if a placement for adoption is finalized for a child already living in your household. If the placement ends, unused leave is forfeited unless the placement is finalized as your adoption. A member who places a child for adoption, or whose parental rights are terminated, including a child surrendered under a surrogacy agreement, is not eligible for parental leave, and neither is a member whose spouse does so. Convalescent leave may still be recommended by a provider.
Separate events more than 72 hours apart get separate leave, but new leave runs concurrently with any unused leave from an earlier event. Events within 72 hours of each other count as one. The DoD instruction gives worked examples.
National Guard and Reserve
The 12 weeks apply to active duty members; Reserve Component members on Active Guard and Reserve duty or full-time National Guard duty; Reserve Component members on a call or order to active service for more than 12 consecutive months; and, under the statute, Space Force members in an active status not on sustained duty. Unused leave is forfeited when you separate from active service, and your active duty cannot be extended solely so you can take it. You also cannot be recalled to active service to use it.
Drill-status Selected Reserve and qualifying Individual Ready Reserve members are not on that list. For a qualifying event on or after October 1, 2024, they get inactive duty parental leave of 12 periods (each the equivalent of a 4-hour inactive duty training period, two at most per day) within one year, and birth parents also get Reserve Component maternity leave of up to six periods within the first 8 weeks, with no inactive duty training scheduled in the first 6 weeks. That maternity leave requires a health care provider's written recommendation to address a diagnosed medical condition and your unit commander's approval. Those are counted in periods rather than weeks, so this calculator does not model them.
Dual-military couples
Each spouse who is a covered member is authorized the 12 weeks, whether the child is born, adopted or placed for foster care. The leave cannot be transferred to the other spouse. Run the calculator once for each parent, using the convalescent option only for the one who gave birth.
What changed and when
The FY2022 NDAA (Pub. L. 117-81, section 621) replaced the old primary and secondary caregiver rules with 12 weeks of parental leave for all covered members, effective one year after its enactment on December 27, 2021. DoD first implemented it in DTM 23-001 (January 4, 2023), which expired July 4, 2025 and was canceled by DoWI 1327.06. That instruction, the reissue of DoD Instruction 1327.06, took effect August 7, 2025 and is the current DoD source. The FY2026 NDAA (Pub. L. 119-60, section 631, December 18, 2025) added a requirement that DoD authorize leave during a two-year period after the event with the approval of the first general or flag officer in the chain of command; DoWI 1327.06 Change 1, effective June 30, 2026, applies it to members who meet one of the 90-day circumstances above. The Services publish their own implementing messages, so check yours.
Military parental leave questions
How much parental leave do military members get?
Up to 12 weeks, which DoD counts as 84 days, for the birth of a child, an adoption, or the placement of a minor child for adoption or long-term foster care (10 U.S.C. 701(h); DoWI 1327.06 para 3.11.c). It covers birth parents and non-birth parents alike, and it applies to events on or after December 27, 2022.
Is military maternity leave 12 weeks?
A birth parent gets 12 weeks of parental leave after a period of convalescence from childbirth, so the total can be longer than 12 weeks. The convalescent leave is separate from the 12 weeks. It is granted on the written recommendation of your health care provider for a diagnosed medical condition and with your commander's approval, and DoD policy sets no fixed number of days for it. Check your Service's implementing message for how it applies this.
How much paternity leave does the military give?
A non-birth parent gets the same 12 weeks of parental leave as the birth parent, to be used within one year of the child's birth. If the child is born outside of marriage, the Military Department concerned sets the criteria for establishing parentage before the leave is approved.
Does parental leave count against my regular leave?
No. DoD defines parental leave as non-chargeable leave, and 10 U.S.C. 701(h)(7) says it is in addition to the other leave in section 701. You can also take ordinary leave between increments of parental leave or right after it, in any order.
When do I have to use military parental leave?
Within one year after the birth, adoption or placement. Leave not taken by then is forfeited unless an extension applies. Under DoWI 1327.06 Change 1 (effective June 30, 2026), a member who had at least 90 consecutive days of deployment or exercise, in-residence professional military education, PCS with temporary duty en route, routine temporary duty, or hospitalization within that year, or whose Secretary approves another extenuating circumstance exceeding 90 consecutive days, may take the leave during a two-year period with approval of the first general or flag officer in the chain of command. Operationally deployed members normally defer leave until the deployment ends.
Can I take military parental leave in pieces?
Yes. You can take it in one continuous period or in increments. If you split it, each request must be at least 7 days, with a maximum of 12 increments, and increments are taken consistent with operational requirements. Commanders are encouraged to approve incremental requests; if yours does not, you must be allowed to take the full 12 weeks in one continuous period.
Do both parents get 12 weeks if both are in the military?
Yes. Each member of a dual-military couple is authorized their own 12 weeks. The weeks cannot be transferred between spouses to create a shared benefit.
Does military parental leave cover adoption and foster care?
Yes, for adoption and for placement for long-term foster care, which DoD defines as an expectation and agreement that the child stays with the foster parents for at least 24 months. A birth through surrogacy is treated as an adoption. You do not get a second 12 weeks when a foster placement converts to an adoption, or when a placement for adoption is finalized for a child already living with you. A member who places their own child for adoption, or whose parental rights are terminated (including a child surrendered under a surrogacy agreement), is not eligible, and neither is a member whose spouse does so.
Do National Guard and Reserve members get parental leave?
Members of a reserve component performing Active Guard and Reserve duty or full-time National Guard duty, and those on orders to active service for more than 12 consecutive months, are covered by the same 12 weeks, and the statute also lists Space Force members in an active status not on sustained duty. Drill-status Selected Reserve members instead get inactive duty parental leave: 12 periods of 4 hours each (at most two a day) within a year of the event, plus, for a birth parent, separate Reserve Component maternity leave of up to six periods within 8 weeks of a birth. Like convalescent leave, it needs your provider's written recommendation for a diagnosed medical condition and your unit commander's approval.
What if I lose the pregnancy or the child dies?
After a stillbirth or miscarriage, neither the member nor a member spouse is eligible for parental leave, but the health care provider may recommend convalescent leave and emergency leave may be authorized. If a child dies, parental leave eligibility ends and the member may move to bereavement, convalescent or emergency leave as appropriate.
Can I be deployed or tested right after giving birth?
Under 10 U.S.C. 701(j) and (k), a member who gives birth on active duty may be deployed, or required to meet body composition standards or pass a physical fitness test, during the 12 months after the birth only with approval of a military treatment facility health care provider and at the member's election or in the interest of national security. The body composition and fitness test protection also covers pregnancy loss and stillbirth.
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