Exploring fertility and discovering various ways to conceive can offer invaluable insights and empower couples on their fertility journey.
MET Natural Fertility, Diocese of Parramatta, hosted a Seminar for couples hoping to conceive on 15 June 2024 at the Bishop Bede Heather Centre, in Blacktown.
Vinetta Lobo, a certified FertilityCare practitioner presented the session and Napro (Natural Procreative) GP Dr Veronica O’Connell was present to answer questions.
“Natural Family Planning is a natural method of monitoring what your body is doing,” Vinetta told the couples.
“Our bodies are so fantastically designed, it actually tells us when we are fertile and when we are not fertile. All we actually need to do is to pay attention to what our body is telling us.”
As part of the seminar, the different methods of Natural Family Planning were explained and the importance of understanding what a ‘normal cycle’ looks like to determine times of fertility,
By providing an understanding of the woman’s body, Natural Family Planning can help couples successfully fall pregnant. If required, male infertiltiy is investigated and in some cases, it can be treated.
During the information session, two couples gave testimonies on the effectiveness of Natural Family Planning to help them achieve pregnancy.
Lanica and Joseph got married in November 2016 and thought that fertility was not going to be an issue as their first child was born in August 2017.
Unbeknownst to them, having another child proved to be more of a challenge. After a few years, it still did not eventuate. The couple thought the reason was due to them not eating properly, not exercising and Lanica having a stressful job so she changed to a job that had more of a work/life balance.
“Is there something wrong with me?”, questioned Lanica.
The couple went to see a doctor to see if there were any underlying issues and it turned out Lanica had polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). Lanica started taking medication then the couple decided to reach out to Vinetta in October last year for a more systematic approach to fall pregnant. In her second cycle of following the model, Lanica fell pregnant.
The process taught them a lot.
“What we got out of it, aside from the goal of getting pregnant, was understanding my reproductive health and overall health. As a woman, I felt like I had to take a lot of the responsibilities. NFP really focuses on you as a couple and on you working together to have a baby. It helped us understand each other better as well.”
Simone and Philip, who had recently shared their own fertility journey in the Diocese’s Catholic Outlook Magazine, shared that after getting married in late 2020, her own challenges with PCOS had to be explored before growing their family.
After a year of marriage and trying with no success, they went to see a gynaecologist who confirmed she had PCOS and put her on medication. She decided to google Natural Family Planning in Blacktown and came across Vinetta’s name and articles written about the ministry in the Diocese.
“It was really inspirational hearing about all these amazing stories and knowing we’re not alone, in a sense, in our journey .”
What the couple didn’t expect was that the process required them to work together to achieve pregnancy.
Philip said, “Sometimes you don’t realise as a husband how much emotional toil your wife goes through, to go through this process.”
After three months, they had success. The couple were thankful for the guidance Vinetta gave them throughout the whole process.
Vinetta told the couples that achieving pregnancy when struggling is something that does take perseverance.
“It’s not a magic pill that we are teaching you today. Some couples achieve it sooner. Some couples take a little bit longer,” she said.
“I had a couple who had really complex issues around fertility, but the thing that paid off for them was persistence. Today they’ve been blessed with a beautiful baby boy.”
The Natural Family Planning programs offered through the Diocese of Parramatta’s Mission Enhancement Team provides an understanding of the woman’s body using a number of different methods to help couples achieve pregnancy and is also highly effective in helping couples postpone pregnancy.
For information on Natural Family Planning support in the Diocese of Parramatta, contact Catherine on 0400 427 605, or email catherine.bourne@parracatholic.org. Information can also be found at parracatholic.org/learn/natural-family-planning/
Beckie Lee is a freelance journalist and contributor to Catholic Outlook.