Infertility

Unfortunately, my oldest daughter does not have any children though they are still trying and praying. Lately though, she and her husband have stopped attending family events. I understand that it is difficult for her to be around other children...but her...

Chemotherapy . . . that was what cancer patients were treated with. “Is leukemia cancer?” I asked. The doctor nodded. I ran out of the room...

For awhile, I bided my time. I went to the gym, and met friends for coffee. I enjoyed these months without bottles and diapers because I knew that the next load waited just around the corner. Until a series of miscarriages...

I came home and explained to my husband that I just couldn't do it again. I couldn't start with the treatments again, the running around like a madwoman, the ups and downs, the anxiety. I just wanted to be happy with what I had...

We saw more doctors and underwent more invasive tests, all with the same conclusion: IVF was our only option...

Treatment after treatment, month after month, year after year, my womb remained empty. Nothing happened except the pain in my heart grew stronger...

Why are infertile women such a central theme of the High Holidays? Because there are few people in the world who will ever pray with the intensity of a woman who yearns for a child...

The story of Hannah, the Haftorah of Rosh Hashanah, is a tale richly woven of many strands. It is a story of devotion and of love, of service and of sacrifice.

Miriam told me she and her husband had been trying to conceive, but after trying for over two years - nothing had happened. At first they'd laughed it off as 'work-induced stress', but after a while they realized it was a more serious problem...

Now that time has passed, I have more tools for processing emotions. Here are some things that would have given comfort to my grieving self.