165. Fill Your Cup with Shirel Korobkin
Talking Away the Taboo with Dr. Aimee Baron
Release Date: 04/22/2025
Talking Away the Taboo with Dr. Aimee Baron
In this episode of Talking Away the Taboo, Dr. Baron is joined by Hadassah Eventsur, an occupational therapist and life coach, for a deeply needed conversation about neurodiversity in Jewish life, and how that contributes to a smaller family size. Hadassah reached out to name something many women feel but struggle to articulate: the pain of wanting a large family while knowing that undiagnosed ADHD or other neurodivergent traits make the day-to-day demands of parenting feel overwhelming or unsustainable. Dr. Baron names this experience as circumstantial infertility, where...
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In this episode of Talking Away the Taboo, Dr. Baron is joined again by Pam Krooth as they pick up right where their first conversation ended, the moment Pam received the call about a little boy available for adoption. Pam shares her experience adopting her son, David, from Ethiopia, including the emotional weight of the legal process, the heartbreak of separation during visa delays, and the realities of bringing a young child into a new country, culture, and family. She reflects on the importance of ethical adoption practices, thorough preparation, and honest self-assessment before choosing...
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In this episode, Aimee sits down with Amanda Bryk, a new IWSTHAB board member, to talk honestly about miscarriage, anxiety, and the complicated reality of building a family after loss. Amanda shares her first miscarriage and the shock of learning there was no heartbeat at an early ultrasound, navigating that moment without her husband Darren present due to residency, and the emotional weight of making decisions no one prepares you for. As her losses continued, Amanda opens up about how anxiety followed her into subsequent pregnancies and how grief doesn’t disappear just because you go on to...
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In this episode, Tamar and Giddy share their story - how they met, fell in love, and built a marriage shaped by multiple losses, 11 rounds of IVF, and the constant waiting that comes with not knowing what’s next. They talk openly about how infertility impacts a marriage, how they learned to support each other while grieving differently, and the role therapy, creativity, faith, and community played in helping them survive the most challenging moments. Tamar also shares how their Instagram page, Tales of Tamar, became a creative outlet and source of connection during COVID — and how telling...
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This episode brings together the science, the medicine, and the lived experience behind BRCA mutations. Emily Goldberg, JScreen’s Director of Genetic Counseling Services, breaks down what these mutations are, how they’re inherited, and what the actual cancer risks look like. Dr. Melissa Frey, a GYN oncologist at Cornell who works closely with high-risk families, walks us through what happens after someone tests positive — from screening to risk-reducing surgeries to the big conversations around fertility and timing. We also hear from Heather Boussi, who shares her powerful story of...
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Like so many, Pam Krooth, LCSW, spent years trying not to get pregnant, only to find herself aching for the thing she once assumed would come easily. What followed was a long, emotional road marked by pain, heartbreak, and the slow, painful shift between expectation and reality. Throughout Pam’s story, we see how the path to the family she hoped for looked nothing like what she once imagined, and how hard it was when the timing was out of her control. After infertility, postpartum depression, and a miraculous adoption, she found her way to a different kind of motherhood, which reminds...
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and More about Tamara Stein (J.D.): Tamara is originally from Sacramento, CA, but has been living on the East Coast and in the Midwest for well over a decade. She moved to the Upper West Side of New York City in 2023 to create Base UWS, a pluralistic, diverse, vibrant Jewish community for 20s and 30s out of her and her husband Danny's home. Tamara is a lawyer who received her J.D. from Suffolk University in Boston, MA. On top of helping to run Base UWS, Tamara currently works full-time as the Deputy Director at Mayday Health, a non-profit that educates folks on medication abortion and how...
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What happens when you have a profound loss, but no grave to visit? In this episode, Danielle shares her unique fertility journey — one that challenges our assumptions about what “fertility struggles” look like. From the joy of welcoming her third child to the unexpected trauma that followed, Danielle opens up about grief that doesn’t come with a funeral, the profound loss of her ability to have more children, and the moments when her pain felt invisible. We explore how her body carries memory and trauma, how medical care and community influenced her recovery, and the ways...
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Infertility isn’t only a women’s issue, though too often, it’s talked about like it is. In this episode, we’re digging into male factor infertility: what it means, how it’s diagnosed, and how it impacts couples emotionally, physically, and relationally. We’re joined by Paul Kassebaum, a quantum physicist, and his wife Julia Cohen, an economist, who live in Westchester, NY. In 2021, their family-building journey took an unexpected turn with a diagnosis of male factor infertility. They open up about the medical and emotional twists and turns of their path, and why they hope sharing...
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Briana Felsen’s path to motherhood was anything but straightforward. When she learned she was a BRCA carrier, everything changed—her sense of time, her plans for the future, and her relationship with her own body. Facing a 72% lifetime risk of breast cancer, she found herself racing against the clock to build her family before needing preventative surgery. What followed was a fertility journey deeply intertwined with Jewish time—the holidays marking both medical milestones and heartbreaks. From an ectopic pregnancy on the High Holidays to finally learning she was pregnant on...
info_outlineOn this episode of Talking Away The Taboo, Shirel Korobkin, joins Aimee Baron, MD to talk about...
-her deeply personal fertility journey
-the stillbirth she experienced four years ago, a recent miscarriage, and the ongoing pain and resilience that define life after loss
-the powerful parallels between her own struggles and the journey of the Jewish people in Egypt
-what it means to seek liberation while still walking through grief
-tangible ways to care for yourself and “fill your cup” this holiday season—especially if your heart feels heavy during a time that celebrates freedom and renewal
More about Shirel:
Shirel, with a background in colour management and graphic communications, made Aliyah (moved) to Israel in 2020. During her first few months as a new immigrant (olah chadashah), Shirel discovered she was pregnant. After a healthy pregnancy, at 26 weeks, Shirel found out there was no heartbeat and had to deliver her baby. Shirel felt she had no one to turn to for support. Shortly after her loss she moved to a remote city with no English-speaking resources, friends, or family, which created a void for the support she desperately sought. She found IWSTHAB who helped guide her through her loss, a pregnancy after that loss (PAL), and eventually welcoming a healthy rainbow baby. Shirel currently resides in Harish, Israel, and is very involved with developing events and support for the English-speaking community there. She is very grateful to be working with IWSTHAB and looks forward to giving back to the very same community that helped her through her most difficult moments. Shirel understands the challenges new immigrants and members of English-speaking communities face while navigating their fertility journeys in Israel and looks forward to providing support with compassion, empathy, and understanding.
Connect with Shirel:
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-Join one of Shirel's support groups
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