Fertility Friends is Yesh Tikva’s peer-mentoring program for Jewish individuals navigating infertility. We connect you with someone who’s already walked a similar path—someone who understands the medical rollercoaster, the emotional complexity, the complicated choices, the spiritual questions, and the loneliness that can come with trying to build a family.
You don’t have to go through this alone. Even in the most loving communities, infertility can be isolating. Fertility Friends pairs you with a trained peer mentor who has lived experience with infertility. Pairs are thoughtfully matched based on diagnosis, medical experiences, relationship status, cultural/religious background, age, and personal preference.
Your mentor is someone who gets it because they’ve been there. Someone who can sit with your complicated feelings without asking you to translate them.
Fertility Friends:
• is confidential
• matches are made by trained social work staff
• supports a flexible connection style based on the pair (phone, text, video call, email, in-person)
• encourages regular check-ins
• support lasts as long as you need
• has the option to rematch if circumstances change
What can a peer mentor mean to you?:
• Emotional companionship during cycles, treatments, waiting periods, considering new pathways, or making big decisions.
• Someone who understands the medical abbreviations, ups and downs, the full-life effect, and the exhaustion.
• A non-judgmental space to talk about grief, hope, fear, pain, anger, and uncertainty.
• Support navigating community moments—Shabbat tables, simchas, child-centered holidays, and everything in between.
• A person who won’t say “just relax,” “just adopt,” or “just be grateful”
Why become a Fertility Friends mentor?:
• You know firsthand how overwhelming infertility can be.
• You’ve developed wisdom you never asked for but now can offer gently.
• You want to help someone else feel less alone.
• You can hold space for different experiences without judgment.
• You model hope in an ethical, honest, non-toxic-positivity way.
Mentor expectations:
• A short, online training and intake with our social work team
• A commitment to monthly check-ins (more or less is okay if mutually agreed upon with your Fertility Friend).
• Compassionate listening, not therapeutic intervention or medical advice.
• Reaching out to Yesh Tikva staff if something concerns you.
Click the categories to expand our FAQ.
After signing up for the program, you’ll schedule a brief intake with one of our Yesh Tikva team members. This video call is your opportunity to share a bit about your story — whatever feels comfortable and important to you. The goal of the intake is simple: to get to know you and your unique journey so we can thoughtfully match you with a mentor who can best relate and provide meaningful support.
We definitely try to match based on your experiences but it’s not our only aim. A meaningful match isn’t about finding someone with an identical path — it’s about connecting someone in need of support with a mentor whose lived experience, empathy, and support style align with what matters most to you. Our community of mentors is diverse, with each person bringing their own background, story, and strengths. While no two journeys look exactly the same, walking alongside someone who has navigated similar terrain can make all the difference.
Our mentors have diverse personal and professional backgrounds. However, our mentors are never acting as mental health or medical professionals — no matter their professional background. They’re compassionate, trained volunteers with lived experience who offer understanding, empathy, and a caring ear along the way. A Fertility Friend mentor is never a replacement for therapeutic or medical care.
Infertility and family-building is a complex time and plenty of individuals need a web of support. Our staff is here to help connect you to a strong support team. Reach out to support@yeshtikva.org.
Absolutely! We have male mentors and mentees.
We see every family-building journey as unique, and we want you to know that your journey is not “too different” to be supported at Yesh Tikva. Whatever path you’re on, someone has likely walked a similar one — and if we don’t already have a mentor whose lived experience connects with what you’re navigating, we will do our best to recruit one. We often know someone who would make a great mentor for the right person.
Our network is both wide and deeply compassionate. Among our mentors are individuals who:
• are childless after infertility
• formed their families through adoption, surrogacy, or donor conception
• are single parents by choice
• pursued fertility treatment due to genetic, medical, or complex health concerns
And more.
Being overwhelmed and uncertain about what kind of support will be helpful is often part of the journey. The intake helps us figure out what you may need, whether that’s a mentor and/or other supports.
• are childless after infertility
• formed their families through adoption, surrogacy, or donor conception
• are single parents by choice
• pursued fertility treatment due to genetic, medical, or complex health concerns
And more.
No matter what brings you to Fertility Friends, we want to find someone who can sit with you in the nuances of your journey with empathy, understanding, and zero judgment.
There is not requirement that you be in treatment. Yesh Tikva mentors support all seasons, including waiting, pausing, or redirecting.
No. You are not taking support away from anyone. Fertility Friends was created because every stage of infertility can feel overwhelming, disorienting, or lonely — including the very beginning.
There is no threshold of suffering you have to cross before deserving support.
Your questions, your fears, your confusion, and your emotions matter right now. Reaching out early often helps people feel more grounded and less isolated as their journey unfolds. And our mentor network is large enough to support many people at once — you are not “using up” a resource or taking someone else’s place.
You deserve companionship and care at every step, not just the hardest ones.
Mentors are individuals who have walked some part of the infertility or family-building journey and feel ready to offer empathy, presence, and lived experience. You don’t need perfect coping skills, a polished story, or all the “right” words. You simply need to be able to listen with compassion, honor someone else’s feelings, and hold space without judgment. Your humanity is the most valuable qualification you bring.
Most mentors check in with their mentees about once every week or two, depending on what feels right for both of you. Some matches communicate more frequently during intense seasons and less during quieter moments. You and your mentee will find a rhythm that feels natural, flexible, and sustainable.
Readiness to support another is not the same as never being triggered. Infertility and reproductive trauma can leave scars and many mentors still have tender spots. During your intake, please discuss how your triggers come up and our staff can talk it through with you. If triggers feel too heavy, we’re here to help you navigate it.
After applying to the program, you’ll complete our short online self-paced training and then schedule your intake with one of our Yesh Tikva team members. This video call is your opportunity to share a bit about your story — whatever feels comfortable and important to you — and to discuss why you want to be a mentor. We want to get to know you and your unique journey so we can thoughtfully match you with mentees so you may provide meaningful support.
A meaningful match isn’t about finding someone with an identical path — it’s about connecting someone in need of support with a mentor whose lived experience, empathy, and understanding align with what matters most to you. Our community of mentors is diverse, with each person bringing their own background, story, and strengths. While no two journeys look exactly the same, walking alongside someone who has navigated similar terrain can make all the difference.
Pairings are made by Yesh Tikva staff with care, based on shared experiences, personal preferences, and qualities meetees identify as important for their support. When we identify a possible pairing, we’ll reach out to the potential mentor to check if they can support a new mentee at this time and then connect the pair via email.
We’re grateful for the depth of knowledge our mentors bring — but in Fertility Friends, your role is peer support only, not clinical or medical care. Even if you are licensed or trained in a healing profession, you are never functioning as a therapist, doctor, or medical advisor within this program.
Your professional experience may help you listen with nuance, hold emotions gently, and understand medical contexts more easily but it cannot be used to:
• offer medical advice
• interpret test results
• recommend or critique treatments
• provide clinical mental health interventions
• replace a mentee’s doctor or therapist
Instead, your role is to be a compassionate, grounded presence with lived experience. You’re there as someone who can sit with uncertainty, reflect feelings, and walk alongside another person through the emotional terrain of infertility. Your expertise enriches who you are, but it doesn’t define your role here. The gift you’re offering is your humanity
If a mentee asks for medical or therapeutic guidance, you can gently redirect them to their care team or invite them to reach out to Yesh Tikva staff for referrals. No matter how compassionate you feel toward them, boundaries are essential. If you’re ever unsure how to respond, our team is here to support you..
Absolutely! We have male mentors and mentees.
Many mentors worry their story is “too different” or that no one will need support from someone with their very specific path. In reality, your lived experience is more valuable than you think.
Infertility takes so many shapes, and people often seek connection with someone who understands the nuances they can’t easily explain to others. Whether your journey involved loss, a rare diagnosis, a complex family-building path, or a decision that felt countercultural, there are people who will find comfort in your story.
If someone with a similar experience reaches out, you may be the exact person they were hoping to find.
Your story is not “too unique.” It’s uniquely needed. We have mentor/mentee pairings based on experiences of:
• childlessness after infertility
• families formed through adoption, surrogacy, or donor conception
• single parenthood by choice
• fertility treatment due to genetic, medical, or complex health concerns
And more.
Yes. Your story and wisdom is valuable and wanted as a mentor.
You can let us know, and together we’ll help you navigate next steps with sensitivity to your mentee’s emotional experience. Sometimes matches continue with gentle adjustments; sometimes a pause or transition is more appropriate. We’ll support you through the process.
Typically, we don’t onboard a new mentor during their pregnancy. However, please feel free to reach out and discuss any questions with our staff.
Have a question we didn’t answer? Reach out to us at support@yeshtikva.org
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