NFP allows you to know the best time to conceive

Trying to avoid or trying to conceive? It’s a pretty common question among those who use NFP since it’s a conversation that needs to be had every month. However, for couples who are contracepting it may seem like a crazy notion that you can use the same method of birth control to either avoid or to try getting pregnant.

We love to let everyone know that the effectiveness rates of NFP are right up there with the pill, IUDs and condoms, but NFP also has the great ability to help when you and your spouse are ready to start or grow your family! This is a huge decision  that comes with a lot of mental, emotional and prayerful discernment, but when you finally make that call to bring someone new into the family, many women start the process by getting off of the birth control pill.

Because many women start the pill during their teenage years and may be on it for 10 years — or longer! — before they start trying to have children, they may come to realize that they have no true knowledge of their real cycles. This leads to many questions for them, such as when is the best time in my cycle to try and conceive, or if they don’t conceive right away they may not understand why. This is where NFP can be helpful. Those who practice NFP simply use the same method to welcome a little one as they do when they need to postpone. All they have to change is their timing.

NFP gives women the knowledge of their true cycles, giving them a sense of empowerment and body knowledge that isn’t present in other forms of birth control such as the pill, IUDs, or condoms which work to simply stop natural fertility. Women and couples who use NFP know more about their body, not just at what point they are infertile, but also at what point their fertility is the highest and therefore the best time to try and conceive.

In fact, many couples who have trouble conceiving turn to learning NFP in order to find the optimal point in their cycle.

LifeSite decided to shed light on a study titled Natural, Scientific and Highly Effective Treatment for Infertility. The study consisted of 54 couples who had struggled with infertility for between one and 12 years. Fifty achieved pregnancy within four years using only natural methods that are essentially free, besides educational costs. It would be great if the natural methods were among the first recommendations of physicians helping infertile couples, as they could avoid the pain, inconvenience and expense of fertility treatments and the negative moral repercussions of such choices.

So whether now is not yet the time, or you and your spouse are ready to welcome a new member of the family, NFP can help with nothing but a change in timing.

— Megan Imwalle
Communications Intern

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