IVF in a War Zone

These last few days I keep finding myself turning to news from Israel and the Middle East. We each define who we are by many hyphenates and parts of our own history. Part of what defines me is living through our own infertilty story. Part of what defines me is also my being an American Jew. For anyone that is currently going through IVF or has you have to read the blog post linked through the above title. In light of the current events I had been thing of Rachel who runs the blog linked and what I found was a collision of both worlds that I could not imagine but I should have expected.

When my wife became pregnant with our first child I had promised I would go to morning prayers everyday and I did just that for the course of the pregnancy and into my son's first year of life. I loved going everyday and starting my day through prayer. Whether you agree with Israel's politics or not Israel is tied to every Jew's consciousness (at least it is for mine).

Going through infertility is stressful enough. For many American Jews the concept of what it means to truly live in Israel through the Intifadah, the Scud Attacks of the first Desert Storm, or now this new "war" is unfathomable. To complicate those emotions with the personal side of trying to build a family seems crazy but its also part of a couple's desire to not let events take away their lives metaphorically. But now they must also make sure their lives are truly safe and to them and all the innocents caught in the middle of these events I wish safety and Shalom (which above all else means Peace). My prayers are also with the three soldiers whose kidnappings started this mad escalation.

[Graphic - NY Times Online 07-17-2006]