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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

A Lullaby for Courage

A new psalm for a woman terminating her pregnancy [more]

Found In: Ending Pregnancy

Tags: abortion

Memorial Service for Our Babies and a Reawakening of Hope

A mourning ceremony for twins who died before birth [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement, Pregnancy Loss

Tags: loss of a child, stillbirth

Prayer to be Said When Preparing to End a Pregnancy

Prayer to be recited when pregnancy must be ended therapeutically [more]

Found In: Ending Pregnancy

Tags: abortion

Prayer After Miscarriage or Stillbirth

A prayer combining contemporary words and Hebrew selections from the High Holy Day Amidah (standing silent prayer) [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: miscarriage, stillbirth

A Prayer of Comfort Following a Miscarriage

A prayer to be said in synagogue for a couple who has experienced a miscarriage [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: miscarriage

Renew Me Like the Moon: Toward Healing after Miscarriage

Selections and adaptations from a larger ceremony [more]

Found In: Mourning & Bereavement, Pregnancy Loss

Tags: kiddush levanah, miscarriage

Creating a Ritual when None Exists

How one woman infused the tashlich ritual with a dimension for coping with her loss [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: miscarriage, tashlikh

Havdalah after losing a baby

Havdalah ceremony after a miscarriage or abortion [more]

Found In: Pregnancy Loss

Tags: havdalah, miscarriage

Life in the Womb

A fanciful account, based on the Zohar, a mystical text, describing a baby's life in the womb, during which time, a candle burns over the baby's head enabling her to see from one end of the universe to the other and the angels teach her all of Torah. [more]

Found In: Pregnancy

Tags: conception

Blessing for a Mother-to-Be

A prayer to be said by a group of friends or family for a woman close to giving birth using the symbolic red thread from Rachel's Tomb. A Ceremony for a Baby Shower. [more]

Found In: Pregnancy

Tags: red thread