Dr. Shelly Gat left mechanical engineering to become a breastfeeding counselor and homeschool her five children, then began studying medicine after moving to Argentina; now an anesthesiology resident in Israel, she says no medical specialty demands broader knowledgeGalit Hareli|Even today, at 54, married, the mother of five grown children and an anesthesiology resident in one of the most demanding tracks in the health care system, Dr. Shelley Gat carries a wound that has never fully healed.It happened 26 years ago, when she was 28 and gave birth to her eldest son, Yiftach. At the time, she was a fourth-year mechanical engineering student at Tel Aviv University and had to return quickly to her st.udies and work.GalleryDr. Shelley Gat (Photo: Yariv Katz)“I knew there was no chance I would finish such a demanding degree unless I stayed with my study group,” she recalls. “I did what everyone does and left my son with a caregiver, and it was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I could not resolve the frustration of having a child while someone else was raising him. I asked myself: Why did I have a child if I only see him at 4:30, when neither of us has any patience, I am not enjoying it and we are not having any fun? I was deeply frustrated. Despite everything I have done since, I feel that I am still grieving over it. Truly.”Two years later, after the birth of her second son, Eitan, Gat made a decision: She would not return to her job as an engineer specializing in simulator design. That choice opened the door to an unconventional life.“I discovered homeschooling and people who did not participate in the rat race most of us live in,” she says. “I saw families who stayed home with their children and realized it was an option. During maternity leave, when I was supposed to look for a preschool for my eldest, I said: I am already home with the younger child, so why should I send the older one to preschool? I will stay with both of them. Gradually, I realized that homeschooling was an accepted option in Israeli society.”Before that, after struggling to breastfeed her eldest son as she had hoped, Gat turned to La Leche League, an organization that supports breastfeeding mothers. Later, while staying home with her two children, she fell in love with the field. “I trained as a breastfeeding counselor and began working in it,” she says.Her career developed as she gave birth to three more children. “My advanced age was not an obstacle to securing a residency position. Perhaps some people even saw it as an advantage: I do not have young children, I will not take maternity leave and I barely need to take days off because a child is sick.”For 13 years, Gat homeschooled all five of her children, now 26, 24, 21, 19 and 16, at the family home in the central Israeli community of Beit Herut. At the same time, she balanced intensive motherhood with a flourishing career as a breastfeeding counselor and founder of breastfeeding clinics.“I would ask my parents to babysit and go out for an hour or two to provide a consultation,” she says. “From there, it developed into a clinic that I opened in the community. Later, I opened additional clinics and taught nursing courses. I always worked during hours that suited me. That allowed me to stay home with the children while also developing professionally.”What did homeschooling look like in practice?