By the Grace of G-d 22nd of Cheshvan, 5733 Brooklyn, N.Y.
Mrs. . . .
Seaford, N.Y.
Blessing and Greeting:
I am in receipt of your letter in which you write highlights of your personal history and present state of health, in connection with your pregnancy.
Generally speaking, in such a situation, and what has to be done, it is necessary to consult a practicing Rov, giving him all the pertinent information he may require in order to advise you what to do in accordance with our Torah and halachah.
However, while I do not pasken shaalos, I can nevertheless convey to you my opinion on the basis of your letter. This is that pregnancy and children are a blessing from G-d and therefore it is certain that He Who gives children also gives necessary strength and capacities to go through the act of birth, etc. and G-d may be fully trusted.1
As for your husband’s attitude, as you write, I trust that he will himself recognize that he has no authority to decide the fate of an embryo, to let it develop or to kill it, G-d forbid.
I may add, in your case specifically, that it is very significant, as you yourself write, that your husband was not originally enthused about the prospect of your third child, yet is now happy about it.
Judging by your writing, I am sure that it is unnecessary to emphasize to you at length the need to strengthen adherence in the daily life to the Will of G-d, including - and this is essential too - strengthening bitochon in G-d, Whose benevolent Providence extends to each and everyone individually, and to go about your daily life with confidence, joy and gladness of heart. This widens the channels to receive G-d’s blessings, and to recognize and enjoy them in the fullest measure.
Since you request an urgent reply, this letter has been acknowledged ahead of its turn, and is sent to you by special delivery.
With blessing,
Notes and sources
1) See also the Rebbe's message on "family planning" (from the Sicha of 17 Sivan, 5740); Likkutei Sichos, vol. 25, pp. 35-37; A Partner in the Dynamic of Creation: Womanhood in the Teachings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson (SIE, 1994), pp. 45-55.
Published: The Letter and the Spirit, Vol 3 (Nissan Mindel Publications, 2016), 426.
Note: Letters printed in "The Letter and the Spirit" are from the Archives of Rabbi Nissan Mindel A"H, the Rebbe's personal secretary entrusted with writing up the Rebbe's orally dictated responses. The “Nissan Mindel Archives” are comprised of secretarial copies, including first drafts, and may have subsequently been published with editorial changes. Therefore the letters as they appear in the book may not be the final signed version.