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Fertility, Pregnancy & Adoption

The longing for children shaped the lives of our matriarchs, and it continues to bring joy and sorrow to the lives of many people today. Medical advances have helped with infertility. However, those undergoing treatment often suffer during the process and crave a spiritual element to counterbalance the arduous clinical procedures. Miscarriages bring their own kind of loss and sorrow. On the other hand, the experience of pregnancy, the drama of giving birth, and the miracle of adoption are occasions for joy and wonder.We offer prayers for those who want to conceive, prayers for childbirth, rituals for parents preparing to adopt, mourning ceremonies for miscarriages and much more.

Photo by Rabbi Roni Handler

Application Day

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Found In: Starting a Family

Tags: adoption

Abortion Ritual

A ceremony that a woman who has had an abortion can perform with a group of women. This ceremony uses the symbols of tashlich (casting out) and mikveh, the woman mourns the loss, renews herself and attempts to bring closure to the abortion. [more]

Found In: Ending Pregnancy

Tags: abortion

Act of Dedication After a Therapeutic Abortion

A ceremony that a pregnant woman or couple can perform with a close group of friends or family after the decision to have a therapeutic abortion has been made [more]

Found In: Ending Pregnancy

Tags: abortion

After a Miscarriage: Hold Me Now

A contemporary prayer asking for God's sustenance and "holding" through this difficult period [more]

Found In: Morning Service, Pregnancy Loss

Tags: miscarriage, yotzer

Baby Brother's Gone to Heaven

Description by a mother of her six-year-old son's response to the death of his stillborn brother [more]

Found In: Fertility, Pregnancy & Adoption, Mourning & Bereavement, Pregnancy Loss

Tags: loss of a child, miscarriage

Finding Comfort After a Miscarriage: A Synagogue Ritual

These prayers are meant to be recited in synagogue as an introduction to birkat hagomel (a prayer said during the Torah service by one who has survived a dangerous situation) by someone who has suffered a miscarriage. [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: gomel, miscarriage

A Grieving Ritual Following Miscarriage or Stillbirth

A ritual divided into three parts: Mourning the Loss, Choosing Life Again and Communal Support and Blessings. A contemporary ritual with selections in Hebrew taken from the Psalms, Job, and Deuteronomy. [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement, Pregnancy Loss

Tags: miscarriage, stillbirth

Havdalah Ritual After a Miscarriage

This ceremony uses the occasion of havdalah, the service separating Shabbat from the week, to mourn a miscarriage. It is performed at home with a small circle of family and friends. [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: havdalah, miscarriage

Healing After a Miscarriage

A poem expressing the deep emotions of a miscarriage [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: miscarriage

I Lost a Child But Did Not Mourn Her

A personal account describing the author's experience of stillbirth before rituals were developed to encourage mourning [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement, Pregnancy Loss

Tags: loss of a child, miscarriage, stillbirth