Bonei Olam - Michelle Haddad’s Journey

[Music] I got married at 18 years old like a new bride, excited to start my family. I fortunately got pregnant easily, had a beautiful son, always looking forward to having many more children. when I started to try to have my second child and after uh many months it did I was not able to conceive. I realized that something was wrong. I went to the doctor and we took um all kinds of tests and he recommended surgery to clear out the one blocked tube. I had one one tube that was healthy and one that was blocked. I I had that surgery and tried to get pregnant again. And unfortunately, I was not able to get pregnant. At the time, all I could think about is okay, I had I can't I have one child and I I always dreamed of having a big family. What am I going to do? I shared the story with my cousin that I was lost and I didn't know where to turn. I didn't know who to talk to. She introduced me to IVF. something that was very foreign to me, something that I never thought about, something actually that I had seen when I was much younger at 14 years old. I remember seeing a on the cover of Time magazine uh a baby in a test tube. That was the first IVF that was introduced, I guess, to the world. I had to take um shots every day. I remember feeling very um uncomfortable and emotional. There was nobody to talk to that could tell me you're going to be okay. This is what to expect. There is hope. There is future. There is no organizations like Bonolam that you could call, pick up a phone and say, "This is what I'm going through. Where do I go? Where do I who do I talk to? I was on my own. I was alone. Maybe I wouldn't have a family that I always dreamed of." I began the IVF and fortunately I got pregnant the first time, but not everything goes as smoothly as planned. I actually had an ectopic pregnancy. So we went to the hospital and they had to take out my other tube. So now I had no tubes and less hope of getting pregnant. 3 months later I was able to start again. I got pregnant with my beautiful daughter. Later on, my son Charles, Kevin, Steven, Michael, Nathan, and now I'm blessed with my beautiful children. I remember which was so emotional waiting for that phone call whether I was going to be pregnant or not. I remember for so much for a long time the phone the sound of a telephone ring was like haunting to me because every time that telephone would ring I wasn't sure if they were going to tell me it worked or it didn't work. Throughout this journey my husband Jack was my partner and I could never do it without him. Thank you Jack. When I found out how much IVF cost, I was wondering how somebody who couldn't afford it would pay for it. And does that mean they decide that they can't have a family, that they they can't follow through with IVF? I was so grateful for Hashem's hand in all of this. And I know God gives you a journey to go through and I feel like my journey was to help and to encourage other people. We question why are we going through this? First and foremost, I believe that Hashem is always with us and to never give up on Hashem cuz he's never gives up on us. Technology and science is so advanced. Just know that to keep on trying and have amuna that Hashem wants you to have a family and if it's not this year, it'll be next year. Never give up. I can't even imagine how my journey would have been different if when I found out that I did have infertility, if I had somebody to go to an organization to pick up a phone and say, "This is what I'm going through. Um, where do I go? who do I talk to? And now Bonet Lam is available and it's here for all of us for the community and they work tirelessly to help us to help the community to help women in need with questions. Bonolam also supports financial assistance which is tremendous part of the the journey which puts a lot of strain on the family on the couple. There isn't a price tag that you can put on having a child. So, if you can donate money to this organization to help somebody have a family, you're building one baby at a time. You're bu building our future, our community. I started out with seven children and now, God bless, I have many, many grandchildren. And that's what you can help a family do. [Music]