Hasidah

Hasidah means “stork” in Hebrew, and this organization is working hard to help deliver babies to the Jewish community, providing emotional, informational, spiritual, and financial assistance to Jews experiencing fertility challenges. It estimates that there are as many as 55,000 in the United States. It’s also raising awareness of and increasing sensitivity to infertility through education and a strong and accessible network of Jewish resources. For many, family is at the core of Jewish life, and children represent the collective desire for life and continuity. At a time when the Jewish birth rate is declining, Hasidah the shroud of infertility, to put infertility on the communal agenda, and to empower Jews to seek infertility treatment. 

It makes sense that Hasidah was founded by a rabbi, given that a major part of its work is to educate seminaries and all denominations of rabbinical associations and to train clergy to increase the level of spiritual care they can provide for those trying to conceive. Never one to think small, Hasidah also launched the National Jewish Fertility Network to link the  eld’s advocates and professionals around the country so they can share resources and knowledge. What support services Hasidah can’t provide itself, it  finds in collaboration with healing centers, foundations, seminaries, social services organizations, free loan associations, 

donor agencies, and congregations. Even with all the resources and emotional support, the largest barrier to fertility treatment is the cost. The average out-of-pocket expense for one in vitro fertilization treatment is around $24,000. Hasidah  IVF grants and loan funding to Jews of all situations and backgrounds, including third-party reproduction and LGBTQ clients. Among the myriad programs that support the next generation, Hasidah is the leader in actually building it.