Health & Wellness with NFP
From helping identify low progesterone to improving marital conversations, Natural Family Planning (NFP) nourishes the physical, mental, and spiritual health of hundreds of thousands of couples. The Ortez’s give witness to the strengthening of the health and wellness of their marriage.
While Lauren is from Indiana and Mario from Nicaragua, the two met in Colorado, where they would forge a fast friendship, and Lauren would eventually convert to Catholicism. “I vividly remember Mario having me over, and we would have theological debates. I was adamant that Catholicism was not okay,” she recalled. But when Mario invited her to a Mass, she went, and was surprised when she couldn’t find anything to disagree with.
That same year they visited Notre Dame in Paris, where Lauren sat and read Rome Sweet Home by Kimberly and Scott Hahn. Mario woke up from a nap to find her in happy tears announcing, “I’m going to become Catholic!”
Encountering NFP
RCIA was one of Lauren’s early encounters with natural family planning. She learned how couples who practice NFP have an extremely low divorce rate, a stat she’d recall while engaged to Mario. The priest preparing them for marriage encouraged them to take an NFP class, leading them to CCLI and a deeper understanding of fertility.
“Before, I knew the Church’s position on contraception, but I didn’t know what the alternatives were,” described Mario. “It’s been really nice to learn that there is a long history and a lot of work going on to advance these methods, and that these methods are very efficient.”
Charting opened up a window into Lauren’s health, including the discovery of a progesterone deficiency they needed to supplement for a healthy pregnancy. “We were able to catch it ahead of time,” said Mario. “I always tell people that we have our first kid because we did natural family planning to start with.”
Open to Life
Mario jokes that his dream for old age is to have tons of kids running around at family Christmases. “We are extremely fortunate that we have the family stability to raise many kids, and we recognize that,” said Mario. Lauren added that support from both sides of their family is a huge blessing, making it easier to be open to life.
Today, they have two active young boys, which can be exhausting at times. “It’s freeing though— at the end of the day, we’re trying to live our lives to be very open to life, and if that happens, it’s not something that we need to get upset about, because it’s all God’s timing,” said Lauren.
Communication
Besides its practical benefits for Lauren’s health, the couple point to how NFP has strengthened their communication. “It’s such a central theme of marriage: the decision to have kids and when to have them. NFP provides a framework that is consistent with Church teaching and the flourishing of the couple,” said Mario. “I can’t think of anything more central to a marriage than those conversations and NFP is great for it.”
Said Lauren, “Some couples say, ‘he doesn’t want any more, but I do,’ or things like that. We have conversations so frequently that we’re able to get on the same page. That really helps us home in on how the other is feeling.”
“People think you’re planning out intimacy,” she added. “Well, yes and no. One of the cardinal virtues is temperance. This is something we need to strive for to be better Christians.”
Championing NFP
With so many benefits for marriage at stake, the Ortez family sees a need to champion NFP at home and abroad. “More women are becoming aware of how bad hormonal birth control can be for their bodies. I think they’re open to more options. I already push it to them: ‘Just look at this method. You can actually listen to your body, because your body is trying to say something to you,’” said Lauren.
And back in Nicaragua, there’s a huge need for the resources to promote NFP. “The priest in my hometown might have five, six different parishes that he services, all in different towns, and hundreds and hundreds of families, so it’s challenging,” Mario said. “I think the Church is wrestling with that. Hopefully we continue to grow in resources, expertise, and volunteers in other countries.”
Written by Savanna Duca for Family Foundation magazine. Savanna is a writer and creative strategist with a special interest in art, film, and entrepreneurship.
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