Kidney transplant recipient gives birth at Bilinson, and the midwife was also a kidney donor

A deeply unusual delivery took place last week at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikva, when Hila Ben Yehuda, a kidney transplant recipient, gave birth to a baby boy and discovered that her midwife, Hila Stolovich, is also a kidney donor. Ben Yehuda, 35, from Elyashiv, and her partner Akiva had wanted to have a child for years, and the birth came about four years after she received a kidney transplant at Beilinson.

Before the transplant, Ben Yehuda understood that carrying a pregnancy would be difficult, so the couple initially began a surrogacy process. At the same time, she posted on Facebook looking for a kidney donor and found one whose family had already experienced multiple donations, three of his siblings and his mother had also donated kidneys. In 2022, she first welcomed a son through surrogacy in July, then underwent a successful kidney transplant in September.

Despite the risks, she still wanted to carry a pregnancy herself. Before trying, she called her donor to ask for his blessing. “I felt a spiritual connection,” she said. “I know what it feels like to be on the side of someone waiting for a kidney donation, and I was happy that a woman who made such a noble donation would deliver me.” Her pregnancy was completely normal, and on Friday the family will hold the brit for the newborn, with the kidney donor serving as sandak.

Stolovich said she became an nurse and midwife at age 38 after having her children, because she felt ready to donate a kidney, like her two sisters before her. She said she was not even scheduled to work that day and was called in from home. “It’s from heaven,” she said. “I told Hila, look where you are and how far you’ve come. The road to birth can be hard, but at the end something very good awaits.” Beilinson nephrology and hypertension clinic head Dr. Shli Lichtenberg Keshet said women can generally become pregnant a year after a transplant, once kidney function is confirmed as normal, and that the hospital follows such pregnancies with adjusted anti-rejection drugs and checkups every two weeks.