In her piece for The Times of Israel Blog, Dr. Hope Blecher, a member of Hadassah Lower New York State Chapter and an educator for more than three decades, writes that reading Hadassah's policy statement Reaffirming Support for Reproductive Choice, inspired her to write about her risky pregnancy. Blecher recounts the conversations she had with her husband and the tears she shed when told she might not conceive naturally. She talks about the birth of her daughter, whom she thought would be her only child, and how, during labor, her platelet count dropped to a dangerous level, requiring her hematologist-oncologist to decide whose life should be saved, Blecher’s or her unborn child’s. Thankfully, both survived. Several years later, she prepped for a dilation and curettage procedure, which removes tissue from inside the uterus to alleviate heavy bleeding. When her doctor had told her she was pregnant, he asked what she wanted to do. Blecher immediately knew he was asking if she wished to have an abortion to avoid another risky pregnancy. She left the hospital knowing she wanted this child. Thirty weeks into her pregnancy, she was told she needed a C-section. She was due in mid-March and was asked what date she wanted to deliver her child. She thought of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar and the Ides of March, an auspicious day in the Roman calendar, when he was killed. She thought about her Jewish baby and St. Patrick’s Day, which was coming up two days later. She chose March 16 to avoid her child’s being born on either of those days. Blecher ends her essay with a quote from Charlotte’s Web: “Fern chose to save Wilbur. Charlotte chose to help Wilbur. That village of animals and people became each other’s cheerleaders through thick and thin.”
Dr. Hope Blecher is a member of the HADASSAH WRITERS’ CIRCLE, a program of Hadassah’s Media & Public Relations Office that offers Hadassah’s volunteer leaders, members and professional staff a way to share their thoughts and feelings about Hadassah’s work in the United States and Israel.