Do you use Natural Family Planning?

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NFP is information about a woman’s fertility that can be used to delay or achieve pregnancy. NFP used to delay pregnancy is approved by the Church for serious reasons. It is unlike contraceptives, which change the very nature of the sex act, making it sterile.

My husband and I discerned, through prayer and counsel, that we had serious reasons to delay pregnancy for a bit over two years. Some of those serious factors are still in place, and our spiritual adviser has told us that we can in good conscience continue to delay pregnancy.

But you know what? We don’t want to. That is part of the beauty of NFP – it causes the couple to really discern what is important, gives them a little push toward being open to conceiving now and then works to help them conceive.
 
Esperanza said:
And although I doubt there are non-Catholics on here who use NFP, if there are, I’d be very interested to hear from you.
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I wanted to answer this question directly… even though I AM a Catholic… 😃

There are MANY non-Catholics that use NFP for health reasons. Many couples do not like using artificial birth control for a variety of reasons…
Here’s a great site that promotes NFP (they call it the “Fertility Awareness Method” on this site… but it’s the same thing as the sympto-thermal method)…
tcoyf.com
Hope that helps!
 
But on this site, I doubt you will find any non-Catholic, NFPers. 🙂

I also know a few non-Catholic women and/or couples who use some form of NFP to avoid pregnancy…most of them are avoiding artificial contraception because of the health risks that come along with the pill, and the aesthetic issues that come along with barrier methods.

I agree with one of the previous posters, who said that NFP is Catholic Birth Control, it is. But, if it is used with ‘grave reason’ as the Church requires, and not simply out of a willful desire on the part of the couple to limit their fertility, then it is not a problematic form of Birth Control.
 
In all honesty, my observation of the families we know well enough to have this type of personal information (the vast majority being Catholic) has been that NFP is used for fertility awareness to get pregnant, not to avoid pregnancy. When these couples decide they are “done” having children for whatever their reason, permanent sterilization of one spouse or the other (and most commonly vasectomy) is the birth control of choice, not NFP.
 
I’ve started using it (I’m not married yet so I’m not having sex yet) and have been charting for about two months. I love it already, simply because I am learning a lot about my body and how I work. And my fiance finds it really interesting too and is excited to help out with it.

I agree with all the posters who are saying it can be used rightly and wrongly. I do own the ‘Taking Control of your Fertiltiy’ book, because I find it a HIGHLY useful resource, especially now that our classes are over…but in some ways the philosophies espoused in that book is VERY different from the Catholic ones.

And THAT, I think is the hardest part of it - not the charting or the learning, or even the abstaining, but embracing an open to life philosophy, and humility to God’s will, and taking on the crosses and struggles that this lifestyle can involev. I’m lucky enough to have been reading and thinking about this for years beforehand…so I was mostly there (but I’m still struggling a little as I realize OH MY GOD I MIGHT HAVE KIDS IN THE NEAR FUTURE and it’s not just an abstract thing anymore 😉 ) But I think for a lot of people it is very easy to start using NFP with a contraceptive mentality and not really internalize the philosophies. It is so worth it though…it’s very beautiful.

The Church hasn’t said anything about what the grave reasons are, and what an ideal family size is - everybody has to search their own soul and be honest about their motives. And I also find that EXTREMELY helpful in my own development,spiritually and mentally. It also has led to a lot of great discussions with my fiance.

I really like the canary analogy somebody made. That is right on. If you have problems with communication, or with expressing intimacy (equating it to sex, or not being able to do it without having sex, or feeling like a lack of sex must mean a lack of intimacy), NFP will exacerbate these issues. But it will also highlight them and allow you to work on them.
 
When my wife and I had our fourth child we decided to look into NFP, we took classes with a local family and learned how the concept worked, basically watching the cycle of the woman’s body to know when she is fertile and able to have reproductive intercourse. NFP works great if you adhere to what you’re supposed to do with it and follow everything with charts etc.

As I mentioned we started using NFP after our fourth child, 10 years ago, my wife just found out we are expecting, we are so happy and excited, we look forward to telling our 7 children next week after our 5th child’s first communion. Yes, we have 7 and are expecting our eighth (17 B, 14 G, 12 G, 10 B, 8 B, 6 G and 3 B) I was really happy with 4, but I am ecstatic with 7 and amazed at now 8. We would never have chosen so many, NFP allows God’s hand in planning your family so that the amazing surprises that are my 8 Year old, 6 year old, 3 year old and our newest bundle of joy expected in November.

Being concerned for my children’s well being I asked my oldest who is a boy if he enjoys being from a large family, he has always replied “it rocks” and all of the kids agree, all of our kids enjoy being from a large family, but in our community of 3,200 the average size family is 4 kids and some as many as 10, so it is a wonderful area to enjoy our large family in with plenty of support.

If you’re going to try NFP practice it very carefully keeping charts, temps and following everything to a “T”. It works if you adhere to it and not become romantically inclined in the days of abstinence, my wife and I just get along too well sometimes ;).
Peace,
Dave
 
Yes, my husband and I use NFP and I think it is wonderful to be able to express our love without taking God out of the picture. As far as it being “Catholic birth control” - I love the example a previous poster gave about killing grandma for inheritence versus letting her die naturally when the outcome is the same. God designed women wonderfully to be fertile for only a small window each month. If we chose to abstain during that time, that is not birth control because there is nothing artificial about it, we are merely having self-control at certain times of the month. A part of using NFP is to be open to live at all times even when avoiding. Life is always a welcome possiblity, unlike artificial birth control which is a rejection of fertility.
The Churches unflinching stance on birth control is a huge reason why my heart is convicted that is the one true Church established by Jesus Christ - birth control has proven itself to be abortive, and beyond that - destructive the family structure and physical/mental/spiritual health of men and women. Thank GOD for giving us a Church to guide us when so many others have buckled under popular pressure.
 
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