From childhood fascination to surrogacy: an Israeli social worker helps a couple become parents

At 40, Amit Yaron, a social worker at the Joint and mother of three from Hod Hasharon, says she first became curious about surrogacy at 16 after seeing a television report. The idea stayed with her for years, but with her own family growing, she put it aside until a WhatsApp message from a close friend reignited it. The message was from the friend’s brother and his partner, Ron and Yonatan, who were looking for a surrogate.

Yaron says she spent weeks thinking it through before deciding to approach them herself. Her husband, Aran, supported her immediately, and her children were brought into the process after the pregnancy had passed the 11th or 12th week. She says their meeting with Ron and Yonatan made the arrangement feel natural, and that both families have since become close. She recalls that when her middle daughter suggested, “Why don’t you ask mom to help you?”, everyone laughed, and the children later took part in the pregnancy, speaking about the baby and helping her through it.

Her parents also backed her, though her mother initially worried because her pregnancies are physically difficult and she suffers from symphysiolysis, while her father, a psychologist, first explored her motivations before embracing her decision. Yaron says the formal process included medical examinations, documents, psychological assessments for her and Aran, approval by the Health Ministry’s surrogacy committee, and then IVF at Wolfson Medical Center.

She explains that surrogacy in Israel is legal and tightly regulated, with set financial compensation for the pregnancy and related expenses, but says most surrogates she met were motivated by altruism. Yaron says she did not feel attached to the baby because the pregnancy was always framed as carrying Ron and Yonatan’s child. After birth, she says she felt “on cloud nine,” briefly nursed the baby, and then returned gradually to her life. The baby is named Noam, and Ron and Yonatan are now looking for another surrogate so he can have a sibling. Yaron says that if she could, she would do it again.