How I Became a Teacher of NaProTechnology

I have always wanted to be a mother and dreamed of being in the center of a loving household filled with many children and a wonderful husband. I found the wonderful husband, but the children just didn’t seem to come along like I had hoped. To never conceive and bear a child was my greatest fear and I quickly began to despair, even questioning God (which I suppose was better than ignoring him).

In my quest to have a baby, I soon found a book at a local bookstore and taught myself how to observe and chart signs of fertility. We managed to conceive twice, but sadly lost both. In the meantime my cycles were coming closer and closer together and my painful menstrual cramps became so debilitating that I could no longer function the first day or two of my period. My doctor did a very basic fertility workup and found nothing wrong. He said that my next step was artificial insemination and, if that failed, then in vitro fertilization (IVF). It puzzled me as to how artificial insemination or IVF would help me carry a baby to term. It seemed at the time that I was having more difficultly carrying a baby than I was in conceiving. My doctor didn’t have any good answers to that question.

It was during this time that I began to feel called to the Catholic Church. I met with the director of religious education to inquire about RCIA. During the course of our conversation I shared the pain and sadness I felt about our miscarriages.  He told me about Naprotechnology and Dr. Hilgers who had built a highly successful practice around Catholic morals and values. He thought he might be able to help us conceive. He also said that I should consider teaching others about natural family planning since there was such a desperate need in our diocese. Fertility and teaching? He was the first to suggest combining my two greatest passions into an actual profession.

My husband and I took a class in the Creighton Model and learned to chart my cycles properly. Dr. Hilgers said I suffered from endometriosis, thyroid dysfunction and a hormonal imbalance that was impacting my fertility. He performed surgery to remove the endometriosis and helped me to regulate my thyroid and hormones. My symptoms of fatigue, anxiety and depression that had been misdiagnosed for years simply disappeared. I felt like a ‘normal’ person and, even better, we conceived our daughter, Philomena. He followed me throughout the pregnancy and ensured that I had the proper hormonal support to carry her to term. And now, the Creighton Model and Naprotechnology have helped my husband and me to conceive another child, our son Zachariah, who was born in March of this year. We feel so incredibly blessed by God!

It is because of this amazing experience that I decided to teach the Creighton Model of FertilityCare to others. I have been a Practitioner for the past two years and marvel at the blessings God has brought about through this work. It is a true privilege to work with couples preparing for marriage and with those already married who are looking for a moral way to avoid pregnancy. But, for me, the greatest joy comes from witnessing a couple lovingly and joyfully bring new life into the world and knowing that God used me as an instrument to help bring it about. Perhaps my house won’t be as full of children as I once dreamed, but my heart rejoices in this life-giving work.