“L”, who lives in northern Israel, shared her exciting story on how despite economic difficulties and pressure from family members, she never gave up.

“I got married about five years ago. A year later I gave birth to our first child. Unlike many others around us, our financial situation was actually quite good. My husband had a successful business in the cell phone industry and I never even had to go to work. There was no need.

I had a car and all I wanted was to go shopping. I had my second newborn a year and a half after my first one , and when he was six months old the change of heart came.

My husband’s business started to show signs of collapse and slowly we found ourselves selling things to survive. My husband suggested I start looking for a job because the economy was  getting worse, and then we found out I was pregnant again. We feared that since I was pregnant no one would hire me.

My in-laws suggested we move in with them and we decided to listen. We started to get rid of or sell a lot of our stuff because there was simply no room in the new condo that my mother-in-law assigned to us.

The heavy pressure started when my mother-in-law found out that I was pregnant again. She made us feel guilty and claimed that we were irresponsible. “Who brings a child into the world in your economic situation?” she said.

I felt very uncomfortable. I didn’t want to have an abortion but was embarrassed by my mother-in-law. We lived with her. She was by this point supporting us financially and helping with our two children. I began thinking to myself that perhaps she is right. How can I have another child in a house that wasn’t even ours?

I convinced my husband to go to a social worker hoping that she would be able to point us where we needed to go. The social worker understood that I was not happy having an abortion. She told me that if I’m not interested in an abortion, I would harm my mental well being by having one, because I would be doing it due to external pressures, and that I would never really accept it.

She connected me with the Save a Jewish Baby (SAJB) foundation. After receiving a positive reply from them with regards to giving me financial aid, I decided to have a talk with my mother-in-law and my husband. I told them that SAJB will give us everything we would need to help provide for our new child.  A crib, a bath, diapers, clothes, everything.

My mother-in-law was skeptical, but she realized that I wasn’t willing to have an abortion.

She didn’t argue very much and I believe that was out of concern for her son and grandchildren.

Today I have a 6 month-old daughter, and I can’t imagine my life without her.  My mother-in-law now admits that she was positive that SAJB was simply making promises about helping us so that I wouldn’t have the abortion. However, when she saw the monthly shipments arriving regularly, packed with food and diapers, she decided to make a donation to SAJB on her own, in order to help other women who are in similar situations.