Liki Rosenberg says she was not prepared for an unexpected pregnancy at age 41, after already raising two sons, Don, 8, and Mori, 4. In March, she posted a tearful photo with a positive test and wrote that it took her three months to absorb the “huge thing,” calling it a gift that arrived “from the heavens” at exactly the right time for her family.
The pregnancy comes after a major family trauma. On October 7, Omri Michaeli, Rosenberg’s brother-in-law and the younger brother of her husband, Hadar Michaeli, was killed while serving in the Duvdevan unit in battles in the young people’s neighborhood of Kibbutz Kfar Gaza. The family then raced to preserve his sperm so they could try to have a child in his memory, and Rosenberg says they are now in a legal battle over that effort.
Rosenberg says this pregnancy is deeply emotional because she wanted it very much, especially after the events of October 7, but also finds it physically and mentally difficult. She says she is tired all the time, has been crying for hours, and has developed acne and visible leg veins that she never had before. Still, she continues working, training, and going to her studio every morning for her mental health. She says her husband, who is also her business partner, helps by taking care of the children and supporting her through the strain.
She says the current pregnancy is with her husband’s child, while a future child from Omri Michaeli’s sperm is still planned. Rosenberg says they managed to collect his sperm in time and will keep fighting with a lawyer to bring that child into the world, likely a girl, through surrogacy. Rosenberg, who built the Liki’s fitness brand 15 years ago, says her business has been disrupted by the war, especially after March projects were canceled or frozen, including in the north, and she emphasizes that she is not focused on weight during pregnancy. She adds that pregnant women today treat the belly as an accessory, and she likes that trend.
