‘Cracking the Contraceptive Myth’
At the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill, the local Church redoubles efforts to promote Natural Family Planning
Javier and Gretchen Mena share a moment with their 19-month-old son, Javier, Jr. The Menas are among 10 couples who recently have volunteered their time and efforts to teach others about Natural Family Planning. | Photo by Joe Kohn
Sterling Heights — Three-plus years ago, St. Anastasia parishioners Gretchen and Javier Mena were like many people getting ready to get married. They wanted to be thoughtful about how they grew their family — and they assumed that using contraceptives might just have to be part of the equation.
That’s when they were introduced, through the Catholic marriage-preparation process, to Natural Family Planning, a natural and highly accurate way for couples to know when the woman is fertile and thus to achieve or avoid pregnancy.
“I’d never heard of NFP,” says Gretchen, 34. “I didn’t even know it was an option. We were excited when we found out about it — neither of us was excited about using contraception.”
Today, Gretchen and Javier — now parents of 19-month-old Javier, Jr. — are part of a growing effort by the Church to educate engaged couples about the benefits of NFP. On July 20, they’ll join a roster of experts and give their personal testimony to a conference of priests, seminarians, doctors, nurses and other couples who are trying to spread the word that it’s best to “go green” when it comes to marital sexual relations.
The conference, titled “Cracking the Contraceptive Myth,” will feature experts from both the moral and medical side of the issue. Well-known Sacred Heart Major Seminary professor and moral ethicist Janet Smith, Ph.D., will talk about why, morally, Catholics reject the popular birth control pill and other methods of contraception and embrace natural family planning. Dr. Daniel Greene, an OB-GYN from Rochester, will talk about the physical harm artificial contraceptives can do to women. Also speaking will be Detroit Auxiliary Bishop Francis Reiss and several others.
Although medical science acknowledges the high success rate of Natural Family Planning — the popular medical reference book “Physicians Desk Reference” notes that three different methods of NFP are 97, 98 and 99 percent effective — the largest hurdle the Church faces in educating couples about it is raising awareness.
“This conference started out just as a way to educate priests and seminarians,” says Dorothy Stapel, coordinator of Natural Family Planning education for the archdiocese. “But then we came to realize that many of the doctors and nurses, who people go to with questions — they don’t have the correct information, either.”
There’s a lot of educating to do, too. NFP, which was given approval by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in 1999, is not only the morally acceptable way for Catholics to control their family size. It has many other benefits that only people who learn about it might realize, such as its environmental friendliness, lack of side effects and the positive impact it has on the marital relationship.
Currently, close to 400 couples per year are introduced to NFP through Catholic marriage preparation in the archdiocese. That’s about 13 percent of all couples who head to the altar at local Catholic churches annually.
But the chance of those numbers growing looks good. Stapel said the Menas are one of 10 couples who have been trained to introduce and teach other couples about NFP. The first-ever conference also constitutes a big step toward raising awareness.
Ultimately, Stapel said she would like each parish to have a couple available to help those interested in learning about NFP.
“Respect for the body is the main point,” she says. “Not only respect for the body, but also respect for the environment. The other side of it is for the couples who are trying to achieve pregnancy — there is so much knowledge about the simple things we can do to naturally enhance our fertility.”
Gretchen Mena adds that the NFP method her and Javier use has worked to a tee — they delayed pregnancy until they decided to have a child, and conceived when they were ready.
“The advantages in our own marriage have been very beneficial to us,” she says. “We’ve been blessed through our use of NFP.”
FYI about NFP
In addition to being the morally acceptable way of avoiding and achieving pregnancy, Natural Family Planning…
- has success rate is generally higher than that of contraceptives
- is environmentally friendly
- has no side effects
- is useful in helping couples who have problems conceiving
- helps promote dialogue between couples
- is not simple the “rhythm method” of decades ago.
