More Than DNA

What really makes you a parent?

Is it genes?

Or is it the things that you do every single day to take care of a child?

You nurture, love, clothe and feed.
You laugh, debate, talk, yell, disagree, and converse about activities, bedtime, curfew time, sleepovers, where to go to college, who to date.
You help another human being every single day to grow up and become a strong, independent person.

We didn't see anything about genes in the above description. Did you?

❤️Parents who are choosing to use a donor for their child are thinking exactly the same way. They want to be parents more than they want to share their DNA.❤️

***And for the record, we know that this is something that is not talked about a lot in the Jewish community, let alone in the general public. But more and more people are using Third Party Reproduction (TPR), and we as a society need to bring this to the fore so that people are not worried about sharing. Having a child with a donor, from a halachic (jewish law) perspective - more on this coming up with Rabbi Segelman from @puah_fertility - is permissible depending on the circumstances. So, we will be spending time this week talking about different aspects of TPR to try to dispel some of the myths and the some of the shame. Because the more we talk about the things that are hidden, the more embraced people feel when they are going through something difficult.

Because no one should never have to feel alone.💔