Supporting God’s gift of life

Editor’s note: July 20-26 is Natural Family Planning Awareness Week. In this column Renee Oakes, associate director of Marriage Ministry in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, shares how her journey illustrates the effectiveness of methods couples can use to postpone or achieve pregnancy.

NFP, or natural family planning, is the result of decades of scientific research. That research shaped methods that effectively allow couples to licitly postpone or achieve pregnancy with discernment. It also provides the basis for restorative women’s health care, providing thorough treatment for underlying causes of subfertility.

When my husband and I were married in 2001, it was clear from the onset we might have difficulty conceiving. We learned Couple to Couple League’s method of NFP in marriage preparation. My chart was different than the other women in the class and looked a bit unusual, which was our first indication that something wasn’t right with my health. Still, we were able to clearly identify the times of fertility and infertility in the cycle.

Soon after we were married, we discerned God was asking us to be open to children. We followed in faith even while living in a tiny basement apartment with a modest income. I gazed at beautiful babies in Mass lovingly clutching their mother’s faces. I longed to be a mother.

More than a year later there was still no pregnancy. We sought medical treatment to uncover the cause. Hormone dysfunction was diagnosed, and we found my husband was clinically infertile. That time was very dark for us, heavy with thoughts of remaining childless. Thankfully, after two years of trying with bioidentical hormone replacement, we conceived and carried to term our oldest son. That was a miracle of miracles as my need for still more treatment was yet before me.

Years passed after our son’s birth. Dutifully charting and actively trying to conceive still led to infertility. Five years after the birth of our first, we began to conceive and miscarry. Each pregnancy lasted a bit longer than the last, which gave false hope that this would be the baby who would survive.

After three miscarriages in one year, my doctor said it was time to have full restorative reproductive treatment. She directed us to learn Creighton FertilityCare, a different NFP method, because it would provide the window to uncover the health issues causing infertility and recurrent miscarriages.

I underwent surgery with a surgeon trained in NaProTechnology to remove endometriosis and to open and repair my fallopian tubes. NaProTechnology, or Natural Procreative Technology, is the collaborative medical protocol to Creighton FertilityCare. Treatment is based upon the Creighton chart, which allows for exact bloodwork and other testing based on each woman’s unique cycle. After two cycles charted with Creighton FertilityCare, patients are referred to an obstetrician-gynecologist who has completed a fellowship in the surgical approach of NaProTechnology. All testing and treatment is within the teaching of the Catholic Church.

I was diagnosed with every disease that can cause infertility and recurrent miscarriage except for two. I have never been an underachiever! Six months, and many tests and treatments later, we conceived our second son.

Many more years of infertility and more losses followed until another surgery was indicated. Our daughter came after that surgery.

During these years I received solace in helping other women struggling as I was. It wasn’t long before God called me to return to school to do the work professionally. As a professional FertilityCare Practitioner, the inspiration I gave clients was this: If my husband and I could conceive eight times, with three full-term pregnancies, they could also conceive. Restorative reproductive medicine is that good. Client after client proved over and again that the body is meant to conceive, and infertility and recurrent miscarriage are symptoms of a disease in need of treatment. NFP is so much more than planning families — it also empowers women to monitor and maintain their health.

The theme for this year’s national Natural Family Planning Awareness Week, July 20-26, is “Pursue a lasting love … Marriage. Create hope for the future! Natural Family Planning, Supporting God’s gifts of love and life in marriage.”

NFP Awareness Week highlights the July 25 anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae, which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, marriage, conjugal love and responsible parenthood. Please spread the word about God’s design for married love and the gift of life as well as the different methods of NFP. The archdiocesan Office of Discipleship and Evangelization joins with the U.S. Bishops to highlight the benefits of NFP to help married couples live God’s design for their marriages.

We have classes in several different methods of NFP available in the archdiocese: Creighton FertilityCare, Couple to Couple League, Marquette, Billings, and Sympto Pro. The methods vary by which biomarkers are observed, but all are similar in effectiveness. Couples only need to select what works best for their lifestyles and goals.

Each method protects the unitive and procreative aspects of intercourse and provides an avenue of not only responsible parenthood, but development and practice of virtue. It is not easy, nothing worth doing is, but our instructors are there to accompany couples seeking health and ways to strengthen their marriage. The current NFP schedule of classes can be found on the archdiocesan NFP page at archspm.org/marriage/natural-family-planning-nfp/.