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Browse our rich array of articles on NFP and all things related! Search for what interests you—PCOS? Infertility? Promoting NFP?— or for your favorite author—Professor Janet Smith? Archbishop Cordileone? Dr. Joseph Stanford?—or an article from a past edition of our CANFP NEWS, or favorite feature—Medical Matters? Clergy Corner? NFP Story? Or sort by most recent to see our newest additions!

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CANFP encourages and welcomes article submissions for our online and print newsletter, CANFP NEWS. Share your personal and professional insights with our readers and subscribers!

Fall 2024

Menopause and Mental Health

by Loree Lippsmeyer

Heading into menopause or know someone who is? Have no fear as women have been going through this very normal,

Fall 2024

All Good Gifts

by Fr. Blaise Berg, STD

As an unmarried man, I do not feel qualified to write much of anything about premenopausal, menopausal or postmenopausal experiences.

Fall 2024

Graduating to Mentor

by Sheila St. John

Perhaps this is your first introduction to the benefits of charting your cycles. Or…. perhaps you have charted your cycles

Fall 2024

Meet Our Members: Maria Elena and Deacon René Burgos

by Peggy Stofila

Ovulation Method Instructors in the Los Angeles region, Maria Elena and René Burgos have been married for 34 years, and

Fall 2024

Navigating Menopause

by Gretchen Marsh, D.O.

Menopause is a natural process that marks the end of a woman’s reproductive years when menstruation permanently stops. It is

Fall 2024

Uncharted Territory! Continuing to Live the NFP Lifestyle After Menopause

by Joan Noyes

If ever there were a time for patience, tenderness, and creativity in marriage, the years during and following menopause would

Fall 2024

Reflecting on My Life with NFP

by Deacon Dave Gould

I first heard the term “natural family planning” when I was attending a Catholic Engaged Encounter Weekend with my wife-to-be,

Summer 2024

How to Preach against Artificial Contraception

by Michael Pakaluk

In my now 40 years as a Catholic, only once have I heard a priest as homilist teach that artificial

Summer 2024

We Were Blessed

by Fr. Blaise Berg, STD

It does not happen every day, but it does happen. And when it happens, it is a gift. I am

Summer 2024

WANTED: NFP Teachers

by Sheila St. John

We have seen many of our California NFP teachers discontinuing their services in the last few years. Some are simply

Summer 2024

Meet Our Member: Andreya Arevalo

by Andreya Arevalo

I’ve proudly served as a FertilityCare Practitioner of the Creighton Model (CrMS) since 2019. My journey with CANFP began concurrently

Summer 2024

The Three “C”s of Marriage

by George Delgado, M.D., F.A.A.F.P.

Wise people have said, “As the family goes so society goes”. For years, we have bemoaned the divorce rate in

Read About The Experience Of NFP, From Those Living It

NFP Has Been a Blessing

Practicing NFP as an unmarried, 24-year-old woman has been one of the greatest blessings of my early twenties. I wouldn’t describe myself as a very tenacious person. I am not motivated to complete tasks simply from the satisfaction of checking them off my list. My motivation comes from being able...

NFP Challenged Our Relationship

Our journey with Natural Family Planning (NFP) was far from easy. Carlos, a committed Protestant, and I, raised in a Catholic family, faced a significant hurdle as our wedding drew near. Carlos came to realize that I intended to use NFP, a method he disagreed with due to its abstinence...

NFP Worked in Our Marriage In Ways We Did Not Anticipate

When my husband and I first got married we had no idea of the richness of grace our marriage would provide for us as a couple. Being Catholics we had an understanding that contraception wasn’t the way to go in terms of planning our family and that a moral alternative...

Questioning the Status Quo of the Pill Changed Our Lives

When my husband Zach and I married, like every one of my girlfriends, I began taking the birth control pill without hesitation. It was just something every young married woman did, like any other “to do” on the wedding planning checklist: book florist, select responsorial psalm, pick up birth control...

Twists & Turns in My Journey to Learn NFP

As I reflect on my married life and think about all the extreme viewpoints I’ve had in regards to NFP, I can’t help but laugh at myself a bit. If I was truly honest, I’d admit I’ve been all over the place on this topic and have made it much...

How NFP Has Blessed My Marriage And Strengthened My Walk With God During This Struggle Called Life

“The life of man upon earth is warfare.’ So said Job many centuries ago. There are still some easygoing individuals unaware of this fact” St. Josemaria Escriva I read a fascinating article a while ago about happiness. It seems the least happy times for most people are in their 40’s—with...

NFP: Plot Twists From the Great Director and Scriptwriter

“You know this is just a movie, right?” replied my husband Mark, as he graciously changed the channel. The movie had gotten too scary and depicted a scene that I know would give me nightmares. The only way I could control the movie was to not watch it. Sound familiar?...

One Guy’s Challenges

My wife Cassandra and I were married May, 1, 1993. From the beginning of our marriage we wanted to understand and practice natural family planning as the means by which we could live out our vows to each other as well as the Catholic Church’s teachings on the beauty and...

Abraham’s Reward

I never thought I’d have a big family. I certainly wasn’t opposed to it. It just wasn’t in my imagination. There were three of us in our family growing up and my mother, who very much wanted a big family, sadly, was deprived of it for health reasons that resulted...

Source of Grace

Sometimes when I look at the beautiful chaos of my life I am completely amazed by the work that God has done in me. After almost ten years of marriage and four children, I am transformed by His love. Although I am a cradle Catholic, and attended fourteen years of...

Answering the Call

To me, being a Professional Member of CANFP means belonging to an elite group of people in California who are doing God’s work. I am a Creighton Model FertilityCare Practitioner (FCP). Before becoming an FCP, I had a nearly 16year career in agricultural finance. I loved my career and serving...

Diocesan Partners

Wow, CANFP has been around as long as I have been an NFP teacher and that means I have been a member of CANFP for 27 years now! And what a joy it has been to be affiliated with CANFP for all these years. My husband and I first learned...

Questions Answered

Do you remember when you wanted a question answered and you only had a few sources to find the information? Maybe, you asked your parents, a good friend, your doctor or a priest. In this age of technology, the approach to finding answers is much different. My children say, “Just...

The Day Started Out Like Any Other

On March 8, 2017 I went to work like I always had. It was a very typical day until I was nearing the end of my workday. I was setting up for the last patient of the day, when suddenly I realized something was terribly wrong. Confused, and having no...

Walking in Darkness

“Does that look like a line”? “Yep, that’s a line.” So began our joys that would turn into sorrows. My wife and I had been married for four years, and while we had been seeking children, we’d been unable to conceive. In the grand scheme of things four years isn’t...

God Worked in My Life Through Bold Catholic Lay Leaders

When I was 16, my mom “suggested” I attend a retreat organized by our local diocese. I began the retreat filled with resentment towards her for forcing me to go. But as soon as the weekend started, the scales started to fall from my eyes. Here was a group of...

Reluctant Veteran of the Pregnancy Loss Journey

A mother goes through so many emotions when she gets a positive pregnancy test. She experiences excitement and joy for the little person she will love and raise, looking forward to all the things she will teach that little human, and wonderful thoughts of how that sweet baby will change...

What is Dad’s Secret

How did Mom and Dad manage to love each other more each year? Each year I marveled at this, into their sixth decade together. I saw them experience what I lacked and what I generally saw lacking in the world around me. The hot flames of falling in love would...

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