Most of the time when I talk about Natural Family Planning, I’m talking about it in reference to contraception. This is why it’s different, this is why it’s okay, these are the benefits, these are the success rates, etc. But the beauty of NFP is that it’s not just a way to postpone having a child – it’s also a way to get pregnant! Imagine that – one method that works for everything.
The premise is actually quite simple. With NFP, you are able to identify the time of the woman’s cycle when she’s fertile. If you want to avoid having a baby, you abstain during that time; if you want to have a baby, you go for it!
Many people have no problem getting pregnant. But many people also struggle with subfertility, and an entire industry has been built around this. Unfortunately, many approaches of the infertility industry are immoral. It’s not that wanting to have a baby is wrong – it’s that the way some people try to go about it can be. The Catholic Church’s general guideline on this is as follows:
“Donum Vitae teaches that if a given medical intervention helps or assists the marriage act to achieve pregnancy, it may be considered moral; if the intervention replaces the marriage act in order to engender life, it is not moral." 1
In a nutshell, NFP is morally licit; IVF and many other ART are not.
Unfortunately, many people don’t realize that (a) IVF is wrong and (b) there are acceptable alternatives to IVF! For couples who are having difficulties having a baby, the prime place to turn is Dr. Hilgers’ Creighton Model Fertility Care Centers and NaPro Technology. The focus of fertility care is on the couple. It respects them enough to try to figure out why they aren’t achieving pregnancy and address the issue.
I’m not saying that NaPro is a miracle solution. Some couples will never be able to bear a child of their own (approximately 5%, 2). But for all the other subfertile (not infertile) couples out there, NaPro really does seem like the best option. Moral issues aside, it is 1.5 to 3 times more successful than IVF (3, 4) (for complete references to scientific studies on NaPro, see 5).
I have heard rave reviews about NaPro doctors, and the Creighton instructors I’ve personally met are awesome. You can find a NaPro practitioner near you here. Also, I’ve recently discovered there is a whole blogging circle of women going through this stuff, and they are a great place to turn for support.
The theme for this year’s NFP Awareness Week is Trust: God has a plan for your marriage. This is so appropriate for couples in every situation. Whether you’re trying to get pregnant or postpone pregnancy, whether you have no kids or ten, whether you’re in your first year of marriage or your fiftieth, you really do have to trust: God does have a plan for your marriage!
References:
1 http://www.catholiceducation.org/articles/medical_ethics/me0059.html
2 http://matchingmoonheads.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/sub-vs-in-fertility/
3 http://www.fertilitycare.org/view-videos/
4 CDC data shows that the average rate of live pregnancies from ART in the US is 29%.
5 http://www.fertilitycare.org/references/
Related:
Pope Paul VI Institute
Creighton Model of NFP