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Mainstream & NaProTechnology: What’s the Difference?
Based on my own personal experience and other important information I’ve learned If you’ve hung around the world of fertility awareness long enough and have encountered someone who has experienced moderate to severe pain and/or infertility, or a range of other symptoms, you are probably familiar with this common question: “Have you tried NaProTechnology?” When…
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You Can’t Fake Fiat: Two Ways to Heal from Infertility
When I was in the 6th grade and recently dealing with some huge changes in my life, one very ugly week crept up on me. I suddenly began being haunted by disturbing thoughts that I couldn’t shake. I became incredibly stressed, lost my appetite, and was taken to various priests for spiritual direction as that…
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To Be Seen: Visualizing the Invisible Pain of Hopeful Mothers
We put a pool in our backyard not too long ago. It took a couple of years for our now 4 year old adopted daughter to learn how to swim, but she can finally hop into the water with no problem. One day the ripples of the waves caught her eye and she took particular…
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NFP For the 21st Century
In case you haven’t yet noticed, I recently teamed up with my friend and fellow fertility awareness advocate, Emily (over at totalwhine.com), to create a new non profit corporation and fertility awareness database called FAbM Base (pronounced FAM-base), a place where science and real life intersect – essentially giving NFP a long overdue makeover. We’ve…
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Taking Family Planning to the Bank, Part 2: Counterfeit NFP
Expectations When I was a kid, I wanted a kitten very badly. I would often see those four-legged cuties on TV or at a friend’s house and long for a little guy or gal of my own to love and smother with unwanted attention. My parents were not really any kind of animal people, much…
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Taking Family Planning to the Bank, Part 1: Perceived Control
Family and planning are two pretty innocent words on their own, but when you put them together, sparks tend to fly – and not necessarily the good kind. People tend to be pretty opinionated about this topic that affects all of our lives in one way or another at some point. Neither young adults nor…
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Uncharted Territory
For NFP week 2020, I teamed up with two extraordinary women to deliver a 6-part series articulating fertility awareness/NFP as it compares to birth control, providentialism, and artificial reproductive technologies in light of Church teaching and our personal experiences. This gave us a unique approach, considering that we come from three very different backgrounds –…
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NFP & the Church Part 3: Men, Access to Info, Financial Concerns, and Social Media
I think I have saved the most unusual and unexpected aspects of “NFP” worth improving for last. So many view it on a shallow level, but you will see that fertility awareness is multi-faceted and dynamic when you begin to unpack it. If we approach it as such, I think we can have quite the…
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NFP & the Church Part 2: Birth Control, IVF, Expectations, Early Education
It’s hard to have a compelling conversation about birth control and IVF when you don’t have a clue where to start – or fear that you may offend someone. That is understandable. Having a handful of facts and practical knowledge on these two difficult topics will come in handy, hopefully improving comfort and confidence in…
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NFP & the Church Part 1: Redefining “NFP,” Health Benefits, and Effectiveness
Natural Family Planning of “NFP” is often associated with the Catholic Church, even though, as fertility awareness, it is becoming increasingly more accepted by non-Catholic and secular women as a mechanism of holistic health. Under the limiting banner of “NFP”, many don’t bother to consider it as a valid option for family planning, health maintenance,…
Mary G Bruno 