A Birth Story, 2015

Maya Kosover (An Israeli Story)

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״At my birthday party, Tal and Amir announced that they were about to become parents. I was surprised, especially since they are both men. I wanted to know everything: How? What? When? But before I could ask anything, the two added: ׳And not just parents, but the parents of triplets.׳ At that moment, I decided to document the process: to provide Tal and Amir with recording equipment, to meet them for interviews, and to accompany them on their journey both in Israel and abroad.״

 

They set out on a journey that took them across continents: sperm belonging to both of them came from Israel; the egg donor was from Eastern Europe; the two surrogates were Indian; and the birth took place in Nepal. The twins were born first, followed by the third son a week later. With them, a new family was born: two fathers and three babies. This was a "birthday" month in Nepal, which ended when the earth shook. 

 

In the minutes after the earthquake they stood, half naked, outside the destroyed building. The babies cried. There was terrible noise and total chaos. Tal had managed to grab his cell phone. He looked at the screen, saw that he had reception, and quickly sent a WhatsApp message. Technology enabled him to cry out for help, and was also the tool through which he chose to tell the story in real time, in the first person.

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Maya Kosover, a radio and television content producer, edited "Night People," Kobi Meidan's daily radio program on Israeli Army Radio; she was the director of the Koteret program's radio station at the University of Tel Aviv, where she also taught radio-related courses; she is an editor of culture and media events (including the Israeli Academy of Television and Film Awards); Kosover is a lecturer on communications and radio at Sapir College, and a key participant in "An Israeli Story." 

 

An Israeli Story, a podcast and docu-radio program broadcast on Israeli Army Radio and on the Internet, takes up the ancient craft of storytelling using soundtrack design and cutting-edge editing tools. The resulting radio broadcasts are far removed from the shrill reporting of current events, and eschew tags and definitions. "An Israeli Story" has recently been joined by a sister-program titled "Israel Story," which is broadcast in English on leading public radio stations in the United States (NPR) and Australia (ABC), as well as on the prestigious Tablet Magazine online. "An Israeli Story" has been listed as one of the world's best podcasts. See: www.israelstory.org.