Sharing in God’s Grace
Mark and Colleen Pressprich, married for eleven years, live in Michigan with their five children. Mark is a practicing urologist and Colleen is a homeschool mom and Catholic children’s book author. They have been a Couple to Couple League NFP teaching couple since 2013. The Pressprich’s talk with Celine about cycle tracking, increased communication, and cooperating with God’s plan for their marriage.
Céline: Mark and Colleen, how did you two meet?
Mark: We met in 2011 when we were both volunteering at Arts, Beats, and Eats up in Royal Oaks. Funnily enough, I was interested in a friend of Colleen’s. I happened to know her friend would be volunteering during a certain time slot, so I volunteered for that time as well. Colleen was there with her friend, and that was our first introduction. We crossed paths for a while after that because we were in similar circles, and we started dating about a year later. We married pretty quickly after that!
Céline: How did you become familiar with Natural Family Planning?
Colleen: We took an NFP class from CCL as part of our engagement process. We were already on board with NFP because we knew that it was in accord with Church teaching, but we had no idea how life-changing it would be! It was incredible how learning NFP together during our engagement process brought us to a new level of communication, trust, and intimacy before we even experienced the intimacy that comes with marriage.
Céline: Colleen, did learning how to track your cycle before marriage have any physical health benefits for you?
Colleen: When we first got married, we were open to having children right away. We were excited about that process since we had been charting before our marriage. Soon, cycle after cycle passed and I didn’t conceive. After six months, we took my charts to an OB-GYN, who was a Catholic doctor familiar with NFP. I had charted for a while and had a cycle history from before we married. He could tell pretty quickly that my luteal phase was too short, which was likely causing my infertility. He was able to propose some diet changes to lengthen my luteal phase.
We conceived our first daughter soon afterward. I always tell couples that no matter what their purpose for charting is, the big picture that tracking their fertility gives them is invaluable. An NFP doctor can get right to the heart of the matter. Especially during a time that is such a hardship for a couple.
Céline: Mark, as someone who went through medical school and is now a practicing doctor, what has been your experience with NFP in the medical field?
Mark: The culture in medicine today is very pro-contraception. Unfortunately, in the medical profession, there is often a stigma about NFP that it is antiquated and ineffective. So often, when professionals hear Natural Family Planning, they equate it with the Rhythm Method. They tend to jump straight to what they believe are more effective methods of family planning. These can be hormonal birth control, condoms, or sterilization. Professionals in medical school don’t even talk about Natural Family Planning. They discard it as useless, but they are not referencing any recent data. It’s a great opportunity for me to dispel the myth that NFP does not work. I share that modern methods of tracking fertility are very effective. NFP is a non-invasive form of family planning that is extensively researched.
Céline: On a practical level, how has the communication that NFP facilitates strengthened your physical and mental health as a couple and as a family?
Colleen: Every month in our discernment process, Mark and I sit down together and touch base. We talk about the many areas in our lives that may affect our family. How do things stand this month with our overall well-being? How well are we meeting the physical, mental, and spiritual needs of our family and each other? Some of our kids have pretty intense ADHD, and our youngest has an unidentified genetic condition that requires extra therapies.
In regards to our physical and mental health as a couple, I have fibromyalgia and Mark has a history of depression. We might think about whether or not we are both in a good spot to handle more. Can we still do justice to the children we already have. For us, using NFP as a way to communicate about all the facets of life has helped us make course corrections for our family in our joint endeavor to have a thriving family life.
Céline: How does the spiritual aspect of discernment play its part in guiding your overall wellness as a family?
Mark: As Colleen said, looking right to the heart of family life and discerning whether or not we have the bandwidth at a given time to properly love our children and each other is very important to us. Obviously, family planning is integral to a marriage. Our understanding that God has a plan for our family has always lent us the disposition and the desire to be generous in that discernment. We have found that our openness to life has been a way for us to share in God’s grace as a family. God has given us five wonderful children. NFP has helped us to conceive each and every one of them when we felt Him calling us to grow our family.
Written by Celine Gaeta for Family Foundation magazine. Céline is an elementary school teacher with a passion for writing. She currently works at a Montessori school and lives in New Hampshire, where you can find her enjoying nature, cooking, reading, and enjoying time with family and friends.
Fertility Science Institute can provide resources, information, and classes to help you better understand your cycles and fertility. The FSI Directory will connect you with physicians, scientists, and experts from other methods to provide the best instruction and support possible.