Peer-to-Peer Support Groups

Pregnancy After Loss

Dr. Aliza Ancier PT, DPT, PCES specializes in helping women navigate their motherhood journey. She has a doctorate in physical therapy with a special interest in maternal health and is a trained mindfulness teacher and educator. Aliza is a mother to three wonderfully rambunctious children at home and one of her twins, in her heart.

LGBTQ+ Loss group

Shira Collings, MS, NCC, LPC (she/they) is a psychotherapist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She primarily specializes in eating disorders, disordered eating, and body image, and is especially passionate about providing LGBTQ+-affirming, neurodiversity-affirming, and fat-affirming eating disorder care. Shira’s personal experience with pregnancy loss sparked their passion for supporting those who are struggling to build their families as well.

General Fertility Support For English Speaking Israelis

Shirel, with a background in colour management and graphic communications, made Aliyah (moved) to Israel in 2020. During her first few months as a new immigrant (olah chadashah), Shirel discovered she was pregnant. After a healthy pregnancy, at 26 weeks, Shirel found out there was no heartbeat and had to deliver her baby. Shirel felt she had no one to turn to for support. Shortly after her loss she moved to a remote city with no English-speaking resources, friends, or family, which created a void for the support she desperately sought. She found IWSTHAB who helped guide her through her loss, a pregnancy after that loss (PAL), and eventually welcoming a healthy rainbow baby. Shirel currently resides in Harish, Israel, and is very involved with developing events and support for the English-speaking community there. She is very grateful to be working with IWSTHAB and looks forward to giving back to the very same community that helped her through her most difficult moments. Shirel understands the challenges new immigrants and members of English-speaking communities face while navigating their fertility journeys in Israel and looks forward to providing support with compassion, empathy, and understanding.

Childless Not By Choice

Gail Miller MD is a life coach, Maternal-Fetal Medicine physician and TEDx speaker. She is the founder of Path Onward Life Coaching empowering women who are childless not by choice to live fulfilling and purpose filled lives.

After she realized biological children would not be part of her story, she went on a personal journey to grieve the loss and rediscover who she was before she realized that being a mother wasn’t going to be part of her life. Her path included navigating the challenges of being a stepmother without biological children. She then reimagined her future.

She is passionate about helping other women find the same healing and wholeness she discovered along the way. With her coaching, Gail empowers women to rediscover who they were before they knew their dreams of motherhood wouldn’t come true regardless of what stage they are at in their lives. She helps clients redefine their visions and embrace the good in their lives.

Part of her mission is also to educate those unfamiliar with the emotional toll that often comes with unwanted childlessness. She advocates for those directly affected and educates friends and loved ones about how to support them.

First Trimester Loss & TFMR

Talia is trained as an Early Childhood Mental Health Specialist and is a Certified Grief Educator. She has a passion for authentic conversations and believes deeply in the power of connection as people share their stories of loss and integration in the context of a caring community. Talia found tremendous comfort in the relationships she built with fellow-grievers in the aftermath of her own loss, and has pivoted professionally to make grief support her primary focus (and love!). She facilitates a grief group for adults under the supervision of grief expert David Kessler, runs an in-person group at a local children's grief center, and educates on grief-informed practice in several arenas. Talia feels it is an honor and privilege to be invited to walk alongside those in grief, and she is humbled to be able to hold space for others at their most vulnerable moments. Talia lives in Cincinnati, and when she is not drinking dark roast coffee or making up silly rhyming songs to amuse her children, she daydreams about curling up on the couch with a good book.

Primary Infertility and Secondary Infertility

Rina is a social worker and therapist on a mission to make the world a little brighter for the people that she crosses paths with. In her role as a clinical therapist at Jewish Family Service of Metro Detroit, she works with adults of all ages to provide support, reduce isolation, and empower them to live their most authentic lives. Rina is particularly passionate about education, advocacy, and support for perinatal mental health, with a special interest in infertility and loss. She has created and co-facilitated several groups for women and strives to create a safe and inclusive space to talk about the heavy things that are too often carried alone. Rina is on the board of her synagogue, Young Israel of Oak Park (Michigan), and runs a free gown rental for women in her community. Rina can also be found spending time in nature, reading when she should be sleeping, and enjoying a really good bar of dark chocolate.

IVF For Genetic Reasons and Egg Freezing Support

Originally from, and currently residing in Riverdale NY, Talia received her Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Yeshiva University Stern College for Women and her Master’s of Science in Human Genetics from Sarah Lawrence College. Currently, Talia works as a full time Genetic Counselor at Weill Cornell in their Center for Reproductive Medicine. Through her current and previous positions, she has covered a range of topics including carrier screening, family histories of cancer, PGT-A/M/ SR, situations involving egg and sperm donation, and the implications of transferring mosaic embryos. While she is not working, Talia loves to bake, sing, take long walks while listening to podcasts, host dinners for friends and family, and travel to new places with her husband and son.

Second/Third Trimester Loss and Infant Loss

Chaya is a Certified Grief Educator, trained by renowned expert David Kessler, and a Certified Trauma Coach through Daniel Schonbuch at the Torah Psychology School for Coaching and Counseling. She founded Jewish Grief Groups to support bereaved women after the loss of a pregnancy, baby, child, parent, spouse, sibling, or loved one.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chaya endured the stillbirth of her baby boy after a decade of infertility due to a medical condition. Months later, a miscarriage compounded her grief, leaving her isolated and lost—until she found IWSTHAB, whose support carried her through her losses and a subsequent pregnancy with her rainbow baby. Inspired by the healing she experienced, Chaya now helps others navigate grief with compassion and understanding.

Chaya lives in Pomona, NY, with her husband, three children, and one forever in her heart. She finds joy in working out, hiking, and cake decorating.