Rites of Passage: Jewish twins to star in C4 surrogacy show with Grayson Perry
Pair born through surrogacy will appear in documentary exploring their parents' 10 year struggle to have children
Jewish twins born through surrogacy and now living in Leeds are set to appear in a new Channel 4 documentary presented by artist Grayson Perry, airing next week.
The baby girls, Liron and Maayan, will feature with parents Sara and Kobby Gamzo-Letova, who turned to a surrogate after a ten-year struggle to have children.
The documentary, called ‘Rites of Passage,’ shows the couple meeting the surrogate, Laura, and features the family’s baby blessing ceremony, conducted by Rabbi Oliver Spike Joseph and the Leeds Masorti Community on 29 July.
“Having the honour of naming a new-born baby is phenomenal,” said Rabbi Joseph. “Having the privilege to name two baby twins at the same time is hard to beat.”
He said the surrogacy journey of the twins and the Gamzo-Letova family was “miraculous,” adding: “It was a joy to travel to Yorkshire to represent the Leeds Masorti Community and take part in this auspicious ceremony.”
The couple met Laura through Surrogacy UK. After a series of meetings to get to know one another, the trio decided that they would go ahead. While not all plain-sailing, the journey was well worth it, said the parents.
“The blessing for our twin daughters was a double celebration for us,” they said. “Not only was it an opportunity to welcome them into the Jewish faith, it was the culmination of a long journey for us to have a family.”
They paid tribute to Rabbi Joseph for “helping restore our faith in what it means to be part of a Jewish community,” a point picked up on by presenter Perry.
“What impresses is that you are willing to adapt,” Perry tells the rabbi. “The backbone of any religion is tradition, but there emerges an ambiguity when communities must respond to innovation in the modern world.
“The reed that bends in the wind will survive; if you are too rigid you will snap. Communities that do not show flexibility will ultimately fall.”
Rites of Passage will be broadcast starting on 23 August at 10pm on Channel 4.
The episode featuring the Gamzo-Letovas and Rabbi Joseph will be broadcast on 6 September.
Thank you for helping to make Jewish News the leading source of news and opinion for the UK Jewish community. Today we're asking for your invaluable help to continue putting our community first in everything we do.
For as little as £5 a month you can help sustain the vital work we do in celebrating and standing up for Jewish life in Britain.
Jewish News holds our community together and keeps us connected. Like a synagogue, it’s where people turn to feel part of something bigger. It also proudly shows the rest of Britain the vibrancy and rich culture of modern Jewish life.
You can make a quick and easy one-off or monthly contribution of £5, £10, £20 or any other sum you’re comfortable with.
100% of your donation will help us continue celebrating our community, in all its dynamic diversity...
Engaging
Being a community platform means so much more than producing a newspaper and website. One of our proudest roles is media partnering with our invaluable charities to amplify the outstanding work they do to help us all.
Celebrating
There’s no shortage of oys in the world but Jewish News takes every opportunity to celebrate the joys too, through projects like Night of Heroes, 40 Under 40 and other compelling countdowns that make the community kvell with pride.
Pioneering
In the first collaboration between media outlets from different faiths, Jewish News worked with British Muslim TV and Church Times to produce a list of young activists leading the way on interfaith understanding.
Campaigning
Royal Mail issued a stamp honouring Holocaust hero Sir Nicholas Winton after a Jewish News campaign attracted more than 100,000 backers. Jewish Newsalso produces special editions of the paper highlighting pressing issues including mental health and Holocaust remembrance.
Easy access
In an age when news is readily accessible, Jewish News provides high-quality content free online and offline, removing any financial barriers to connecting people.
Voice of our community to wider society
The Jewish News team regularly appears on TV, radio and on the pages of the national press to comment on stories about the Jewish community. Easy access to the paper on the streets of London also means Jewish News provides an invaluable window into the community for the country at large.
We hope you agree all this is worth preserving.
