By AMY MILLER
CATHOLIC HEALTHCARE
In the United States, one in eight women will have difficulty conceiving a child. Often, women and couples struggle silently with infertility. They see families at their church with many children, get invited to baby showers and might even be asked when they are going to have children themselves. These situations can be frustrating and cause hurt, yet couples do not feel like they can talk about the one thing they so desperately want to share.
I am one in eight. My husband and I struggled for three years to have a child. In that time, we suffered through two miscarriages and many months without getting pregnant.
Throughout our entire marriage we have used Natural Family Planning, in particular the Creighton Model System, which involves daily checking and recording signs of fertility and infertility. Our Creighton Model FertilityCare Practitioner was instrumental in getting us the help we needed during our infertility journey. She was able to look at my chart and see issues that might be contributing to our infertility. She referred us to a local family practice doctor with NFP training who helped me try and balance hormone problems more naturally, without synthetic medications. When we continued to struggle, he was able to refer me to an OBGYN specially trained in FertilityCare techniques, known as a FertilityCare Medical Consultant. This doctor’s specialized training helped him identify more underlying issues and treat them in an effort to heal my body and allow us to conceive naturally.
My husband and I appreciated how our doctors took the time to really listen to our questions and concerns, and even pray with us on multiple occasions. One of the things that struck me as extremely important was that the doctors were looking for the root cause of the infertility and trying to fix it, working with my natural cycles rather than covering up symptoms with medications. And of course, we had our FertilityCare Practitioner, who was always ready to listen with a sympathetic ear, offer her insights into my chart and help identify things to discuss with my doctors. We were no longer alone on our journey. We had a team of people supporting us and helping us fulfill our dream of having a baby. After surgery to treat endometriosis and hormone supplements during pregnancy we have been able to add not one, but two children to our family.
Our personal journey with infertility led me to become a Creighton Model System FertilityCare Practitioner myself. The treatment and care we received gave us so much hope, that I wanted to be able to try and give that same hope to other couples who were also struggling with infertility. Working with an individual practitioner was an invaluable step in this process. Learning and using a natural method of family planning can be difficult, and having someone to help us navigate my chart and just listen to our concerns meant so much to us.
Natural methods of family planning can be very helpful in diagnosing and treating a wide range of issues, including infertility. Couples can use NFP to find their true days of fertility, increasing their chances of getting pregnant. With just learning to chart menstrual cycles and using their days of fertility, 20-40% of couples that have experienced infertility are able to successfully achieve a pregnancy within eight to twelve months. With charting cycles using the Creighton Model System and medical treatment, which could range from hormone supplementation to surgery, up to 80% of couples dealing with infertility are able to conceive. This success rate does depend on the cause of the infertility and will vary from couple to couple. (Information courtesy of Saint Paul VI Institute.)
If you are struggling with infertility and would like to learn a natural method, please contact the Holy Family Center for Life at 812-421-2030 or [email protected]. Services are provided locally in Fort Branch, Evansville and Jasper, as well as virtually. Our practitioners are here to walk with you on this journey and share with you the hope NFP has brought to many couples with infertility.
Amy and her husband Matt, who serves as Director of Worship for the Diocese of Evansville, are the parents of Isaac, Catherine and Benedict. The family attends Saint Benedict Cathedral Parish in Evansville.