Talking Away the Taboo with Dr. Aimee Baron Podcast By Dr. Aimee Baron cover art

Talking Away the Taboo with Dr. Aimee Baron

Talking Away the Taboo with Dr. Aimee Baron

By: Dr. Aimee Baron
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Talking Away the Taboo is the podcast for anyone in the Jewish community struggling to have a child and is seeking a place for emotional support and comfort. It is a show that will help you learn while validating your feelings and processing the hardship and to teach everyone else to be more sensitive. Each week, Dr. Aimee Baron and her guests will be talking away the taboo of infertility, pregnancy loss, infant loss, surrogacy, adoption and more. Your best friend just had a stillbirth and you don't know what to say? This is the space for you. We laugh, we cry and we challenge the Jewish community to think differently about a topic that has for so long been shrouded in secrecy and shame. Join us on the wild, unpredictable, and gut-wrenching journey of creating a family. Follow I Was Supposed To Have A Baby on Instagram and TikTok at @iwassupposedtohaveababy. To find out more about I Was Supposed To Have A Baby, visit our website at iwassupposedtohaveababy.org2022 Economics Judaism Management Management & Leadership Spirituality
Episodes
  • 198. Balancing Roles and Expectations: A Father's Surrogacy Story with Samuel Konig and Aliza Abrams-Konig

    198. Balancing Roles and Expectations: A Father's Surrogacy Story with Samuel Konig and Aliza Abrams-Konig
    Mar 26 2026
    In this episode, Aliza Abrams-Konig, surrogacy consultant for I Was Supposed to Have a Baby, sits down with her husband, Samuel Konig, to discuss the unique and often overlooked experiences of fathers during the surrogacy process. The couple recounts the surreal moments of their journeys, from the stress of legal uncertainties to the specific heartache of seeing someone else's name on their newborn's hospital bracelet. Aliza and Samuel explore the cultural and social pressures within the Jewish community, including the decision to keep their journey private until their children arrived. Sam highlights the importance of finding therapy as a neutral support system to manage the intense stressors that come with surrogacy. The two focus on the profound gratitude that follows a difficult road to parenthood and how facing these challenges together can fundamentally strengthen a family. If you are navigating the unique complexities of surrogacy or seeking a deeper understanding of the father's role in the fertility journey, this episode is for you. View our surrogacy resources: here More about Sam Konig: Sam Konig was born in Vienna to Jewish Polish parents who were expelled from Poland in 1969 and found refuge in Copenhagen, where he grew up. He completed his schooling in the UK, attended McGill University, and earned his M.A. in Ottawa. Sam has built his career in Jewish communal life, serving as Executive Director of Towson University Hillel before moving to New York, where he worked with Hillel International and later with the American Friends of Bar-Ilan University. He now serves as Director of Strategic Philanthropy for the Northeastern region at American Friends of Magen David Adom (AFMDA). More about Aliza Abrams Konig, MSW: Aliza Abrams Konig is the Director of Student Leadership at Yeshiva University. Throughout Aliza's career, she has worked within areas of student life, team building, creating curricula, and Experiential Education. Earlier in Aliza's career she served as the YU Director of Alumni Engagement, Assistant Principal at Central, Yeshiva University High School for Girls, Director of Student Life at Stern College, and as the Director of Jewish Service Learning for the University. Aliza is a member of the inaugural Wexner Field Fellows program through the Wexner Foundation. As a sought-after consultant on surrogacy, Aliza is passionate about raising awareness around surrogacy in the Jewish community. She has spoken on podcasts, worldwide in synagogues, community centers, and schools about the contemporary Jewish family, dating, infertility, and surrogacy. Aliza holds a BA in Judaic Studies from Stern College, and a Master's in Social Work from the Wurzweiler School of Social Work and is now a doctoral candidate at Wurzweiler. Aliza, her husband Samuel, and their family live in Riverdale, New York, where they are very involved with their community, synagogue, and other local organizations. Connect with Aliza: - Set up a surrogacy consultation here - Contact her via email - Connect on Instagram Connect with us: -Check out our Website -Follow us on Instagram and send us a message -Watch our TikToks -Follow us on Facebook -Watch us on YouTube -Connect with us on LinkedIn
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    28 mins
  • 197. Carrying for Family: A Cousin's Gift of Surrogacy with Andrea Syrtash, Elana Syrtash-Ochs, and Aliza Abrams Konig

    197. Carrying for Family: A Cousin's Gift of Surrogacy with Andrea Syrtash, Elana Syrtash-Ochs, and Aliza Abrams Konig
    Mar 19 2026
    In this episode, IWSTHAB's Surrogacy Support Consultant Aliza Abrams Konig sits down with Andrea Syrtash, a relationship expert and founder of Pregnantish, and her cousin Elana Syrtash-Ochs, an early childhood educator and enentrepreneur, to discuss their shared journey through gestational surrogacy. The conversation explores the profound emotional shift that occurs when a family member steps in after years of infertility, loss, and the heartbreak of being ghosted by a previous surrogate. Andrea reflects on her winding path to parenthood, marked by endometriosis, multiple miscarriages, and the eventual realization that she needed a gestational carrier. After a devastating experience with a surrogate who disappeared mid-process, Elana moved the family toward healing by offering to carry Andrea's baby herself. Together, they navigate the unique dynamics of intrafamily surrogacy, discussing how they set healthy boundaries, managed the curiosity of young children, and even educated hospital staff on how to respectfully handle a surrogacy birth. Their story is a powerful testament to trust, "beshert" timing, and the strength of family bonds. If you are navigating the complexities of surrogacy this episode offers a roadmap of honesty and hope. View additional surrogacy resources: here More about Andrea Syrtash: Andrea Syrtash is a relationships and sexual health author, fertility advocate, and founder of Pregnantish—the first media platform exclusively dedicated to helping people navigate fertility treatments and infertility. She is also the founder of the World Fertility Awards, the first global, consumer-facing event recognizing and celebrating assisted reproductive technology and the future of family. Andrea is passionate about supporting the 1 in 6 diagnosed with infertility worldwide, as well as the many more who lack access to the care and information they need to build their families. She is the author of multiple books published by Penguin Random House, including He's Just Not Your Type (And That's a Good Thing) and Cheat on Your Husband (With Your Husband) She has hosted television programs for Oprah's OWN (Canada), Discovery Network, and Fox, and regularly appears as a guest expert in global media including Good Morning America, Women's Health, The Times of India, Forbes Brazil and NHK Japan. Andrea hosts the Pregnantish podcast, which explores the extraordinary lengths people go to create their families through science and was recently named a New York Times–recommended listen. As Editor-in-Chief of pregnantish, Andrea authored and helped lead one of the largest studies on fertility patient retention, "Why I Left My Fertility Clinic for Another ART Provider," published in Human Reproduction (2022). Originally from Toronto, Andrea lives in Brooklyn with her husband and daughter, who was born via gestational surrogacy after many years of fertility treatment. She remains deeply committed to breaking the stigma around infertility and elevating conversations about modern family-building. Connect with Andrea: - Check out Andrea's Instagram - Visit her website here - Send her an email More about Elana Syrtash-Ochs, M.Ed: Originally from Toronto, Canada, Elana (Syrtash) Ochs has been involved in children's programming for over 20 years. Elana is the owner and director of Kol Chaverim Preschool in Fair Lawn, NJ which was founded in 2012 as well as KC Kids Aftercare program at Yeshivat He'Atid, in Teaneck, NJ, founded in 2016. Elana also created Gan Yavneh Daycare and served as Yavneh Academy's Preschool Director and Manager for 3 years from its inception in 2017. Elana has several years of experience as an educator, preschool director, camp director and consulting director for programs all around NY & NJ. Elana ran her swim program, Morah Elana's Swim, in Englewood from 2012-2022 and was the Program Director & Host at Upscale Getaways Passover Program in Niagara Falls, Canada for several years as well. Elana graduated from Yeshiva University with a B.A. in English Literature, a Minor in Music and an A.A. in Judaic Studies. She also earned a dual Masters degree in Early Childhood Education and Special Education at Touro College, NY. Prior to working as a Preschool Director, Elana worked as an EMT in New York. She was also the Head Lifeguard at the camp run by the Hebrew Academy for Special Children (HASC) for 2 years. Elana was selected to join Teach for America in 2008 and served as a special educator and corps member in Harlem and the Bronx. Connect with Elana: - Check out Elana's Instagram and Facebook - Send her an email More about Aliza Abrams Konig, MSW: Aliza Abrams Konig is the Director of Student Leadership at Yeshiva University. Throughout Aliza's career, she has worked within areas of student life, team building, creating curricula, and Experiential Education. Earlier in Aliza's career she served as the YU Director of Alumni Engagement, Assistant Principal at Central, Yeshiva University ...
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    44 mins
  • 196. Not the After, the During: Telling the Truth From Inside Pregnancy After Loss with Sarah Guigue

    196. Not the After, the During: Telling the Truth From Inside Pregnancy After Loss with Sarah Guigue
    Mar 12 2026
    In this two-part conversation, we return to Sarah Guigue's fertility journey with honesty, vulnerability, and deep intention.

    When we first recorded in November 2025, Sarah was still pregnant. She made the brave choice to speak in the middle of it, not after the ending was known, because she wanted to capture the raw intensity of pregnancy after loss. The fear. The hope. The constant calculations. The way joy and terror lived side by side.

    Sarah shares how private she wanted to be during that pregnancy. How she almost didn't tell her immediate family. How she entered what she calls her "nesting" period, pulling inward, limiting public appearances, and protecting herself from questions and commentary that felt too heavy to carry. Not because she wasn't grateful, but because she was surviving.

    She speaks powerfully about the strength it took to try again. About her deep belief that G-d co-creates life with us, and that we are meant to be vessels, even when the risk feels unbearable. That faith didn't erase fear, but it gave her the courage to move forward anyway.

    In the second half of this episode, recorded after the birth of her baby, Sarah reflects on how her emotions have shifted. What stayed with her. What surprised her. And how pregnancy after loss doesn't simply end at delivery, even when the outcome is joyful.

    This episode is for anyone who has lived in the in-between. Anyone who protected their heart by staying quiet. Anyone who kept going not because they were fearless, but because something deeper carried them forward.

    More about Sarah Guigue:

    Sarah Encaoua Guigue is a passionate coach, educator, writer, MC, and content creator devoted to living and sharing the light of Chassidus. Through her platform Hassidic Hipster Girl, she brings deep spiritual ideas into relatable, modern conversation—infusing daily life with meaning, joy, and connection to Hashem. Driven by the Lubavitcher Rebbe's vision of Dira Betachtonim—making a dwelling place for Hashem here in the physical world, Sarah guides women & girls from stuck to soul-aligned through her 1:1 coaching, and various offerings. She can be reached via Instagram DMs @hassidic.hipster.girl

    Connect with Sarah:

    - Check out Sarah's Instagram

    - Visit her website here

    - Connect with Sarah via email

    Connect with us:

    -Check out our Website

    -Follow us on Instagram and send us a message

    -Watch our TikToks

    -Follow us on Facebook

    -Watch us on YouTube

    -Connect with us on LinkedIn
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    1 hr and 33 mins
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