“I always considered myself a mother, I just didn’t have my baby yet.”
– Nicole Hobbs, Fertility Loan Recipient.

The 2nd Annual Feit 4 Kidz Fertility Fund Benefit Dinner is fast approaching. Emily and Alan Feit, along with Jewish Free Loan Association of Los Angeles are diligently working to make this event another night to remember. This year’s benefit dinner is Saturday, November 15th, 2014 at the Luxe Hotel in Brentwood. To date, The Feit 4 Kidz Fertility Fund has raised $522,500 and has provided 30 couples with interest free loans. There are babies cooking the oven and in the arms of new Moms and Dads.

EMILY AND ALAN’S STORY

I met Emily and Alan Feit back in 2011 when they came to HRC at the start their journey. Emily and Alan endured three years of fertility treatments, including two intrauterine inseminations, seven fresh and frozen IVF cycles, negative pregnancy tests and two miscarriages. Needless to say it was a long, arduous and painful three years. Unfortunately, 1 in 8 couples suffer from infertility, so their story is not unique. What does make Emily and Alan’s story unique is their ability to allow their nightmare to fulfill other people’s dreams by paying forward. During their treatments, Alan made a pledge to G-d – If Emily conceived, they would donate the money spent on fertility treatments to help those less financially fortunate. The Feit 4 Kidz Fertility Fund was born in 2013 after the birth of their twins, Kara and Zachary Feit.

INFERTILITY SUCKS

Facing infertility SUCKS – there is no better word to describe it. It is not only devastating, but it is isolating. It is a very personal problem between two people. It affects marriages/partnerships, families, friendships and social lives. Couples tend to feel ashamed and sense a loss of control over their own bodies . They blame themselves or their partners for their misfortune. When Emily and Alan started their journey, they did it alone. They felt shamed and did not share their reproductive difficulties with their family or friends. Since the birth of Feit 4 Kidz Fertility Fund, Emily and Alan have brought a very private struggle public and have generated awareness about infertility. By sharing their story, they have connected with many other couples going through the same hardship. Emily’s advice, “My words to those people who are suffering or may have suffered in the past: the day to day, the month to month, the waiting, the turmoil that you are experiencing, experience it, it is part of the journey, part of the process and those barriers are going to make you appreciate your family and your experience, when eventually you will be successful.” After years of working in Reproductive Endocrinology, I found that success comes when you become open to receiving in any way. Your success is your choice: be open to receiving your family in any way it may present itself. That may include a surrogate, egg and/or sperm donor, adoption or a realization that you already have everything you need to make your life complete.

INSPIRATION AT WORK

To say that Emily and Alan Feit are an inspiration is an understatement. They are creating dreams. Emily shared with me that sometimes she still does not understand why she had to endure infertility. I say it is because the Feit Kidz 4 Fertility Fund may be creating our next President, a peacemaker for the Middle East, the doctor that cures cancer or simply to just fulfill a dream. Emily and Alan are keeping the world moving forward; they are putting their past behind them and creating brighter futures. For that, you both are my heroes.

INTEREST FREE LOANS FOR FERTILITY TREATMENTS

The Jewish Free Loan Association of Los Angeles has been providing interest free loans since 1904. They provide loans for Emergencies, Micro-enterprise Small Businesses, Adoption, Education, Health Care, Life Cycle, and Fertility Treatments. To find out more information about applying for a loan or donating to the JFLA please visit: www. jfla.org.

I am elated to announce that this year’s Feit 4 Kidz Fertility Fund Benefit Dinner is SOLD OUT. To be added to the waitlist, please email batya@jfla.org.

NaMamaste,

Wendy S.

(NaMamaste: The mother spirit within me honors the mother spirit within you)