Guiding Couples Through Infertility

This post originally appeared in February, 2010. I am republishing it today because Racheli Sprecher Frankel, whose talk I summarized below, is the mother of 16-year-old Naftali Frankel. Last Thursday, Naftali and two other young boys were hitching rides home when they were kidnapped by Hamas … [Read more...]

Tips for Couples Struggling with Infertility

I wrote this post a long time ago, after attending a talk by Natalie Taylor at the Kolech conference on fertility. Unfortunately the topic still relevant for many couples. At the time the speaker was pregnant with twins, who were born healthy. Natalie Taylor started off by saying that she is not … [Read more...]

Surrogate Mothering by Religious Women

Rika Koren, 32, divorced and the mother of two, served as a surrogate mother for an infertile couple and plans to do so again. In an interview with the newspaper Makor Rishon, Koren expanded on the reasons for her decision. She grew up in the Gur community of Ashdod, but her mother was from a … [Read more...]

Rabbi: Freezing Eggs Not Viable Solution

Last week I reported on the conference encouraging single women in their 30's to freeze their eggs for after marriage. The website Jewish Ideas Daily translated and published two responsa by Rabbi Yuval Cherlow to a desperate 36-year-old, in which he addresses some of the many issues facing singles … [Read more...]

Keep Your Frozen Eggs Kosher

Should single, religious women in their 30's be encouraged to freeze their eggs, preserving their fertility for a few more years? This was the topic at a conference yesterday on the technology and ethics of single women in their 30's freezing their eggs for later use. Update: Rabbi Yuval Cherlow … [Read more...]

Are Rabbis Too Strict about Birth Control and Abortion?

The Orthodox website Kipa.co.il billed the Kolech conference on fertility as an "anti-Puah" event. Puah is an institute that helps couples with issues related to sexual health and fertility in a halachic framework. (A representative of Kolech insisted that the headline was invented by Kipa.) I … [Read more...]

“Niddah” Art: Maybe This Month

A blogger sent me this photo of Jacqueline Nicholls' art, saying it was too "intense" for her site.   The piece looks tame, but contains several layers of meaning. The artist explains: It comes from my years experiencing the monthly niddah rituals, checking and preparing to go to the mikveh, … [Read more...]

Infertility Aliyah and Egg Harvesting

In A New Reason to Make Aliyah: Free Egg Freezing, Allison Kaplan Sommer reports on a new development in Israeli health insurance: The state will now cover the freezing of 20 eggs harvested in up to four extractions from young, healthy women, which can be stored, should she decide to have kids at a … [Read more...]