‘All of a sudden you become a parent’

This is the third instalment of a six-part series, Be Fruitful: Fertility Journeys in Modern Jewish Lives, which explores the complex and sometimes taboo journey to parenthood in the Jewish community.

Sarah* was actively involved in Kosher IVF when she first attended a talk about foster care in the Jewish community back in 2017.

The Sydney-based pre-school teacher was recently married and trying to start a family – she made the decision to sign up as a potential carer thinking “nothing would come from it”. One month later, she got a call. A soon-to-be-born boy was to be removed from his Jewish mother for “safety and wellness reasons” and needed temporary residence.

Sarah and her husband Matthew* were put through intense interviews on everything from their finances to the state of their marriage. A few weeks after his birth, their foster son arrived.

“We quickly built a nursery in our apartment, and the religious community descended on our home and on my classroom with baby clothes, bassinettes, prams, meals – absolutely everything we needed,” she told The Jewish Independent.

“It’s unique when you can nurture a child that you didn’t necessarily give birth to. All of a sudden you become a parent, and your love and devotion for this child is like nothing else.”