Frequently Asked Questions
Natural Family Planning (NFP)
Do you have to have regular cycles for NFP to be effective?
No! Modern NFP relies on observing your body daily to identify if today is fertile or infertile—-is totally irrelevant how long your cycle will be, or when you are “usually” fertile or infertile. Your Grandma’s (or GREAT Grandma’s) Rhythm Method took a history of past cycles and used that to calculate when you would be fertile currently, and the effectiveness of that did indeed depend on regular cycles. Ironically, many modern apps do use the outdated Rhythm Method, and we do not recommend those. But modern NFP is prospective, observing the signs your body produces daily which inform you if today is fertile or infertile—and does not rely on predictable cycle length.
How do NFP Phone Apps work?
There are hundreds of phone apps, and they vary greatly in how they work.
Some are simply high tech ways of tracking your periods. You enter in the first day of your period each month, and the app then predicts when you will be fertile in future cycles, based on when you are fertile in previous cycles (your Great Grandma’s Rhythm Method).
With other apps, you do enter in data such as mucus observations, or temperature, and the app then interprets the data and informs you when you are fertile. HOW they do that, is usually undisclosed and proprietary.
Some apps, are simply ways to record your own observations, an electronic chart, if you will. YOU still determine when you are fertile and infertile. Each major modern method of NFP offers this type of electronic charting, for those who prefer it to charting on a physical chart. They do not replace good instruction in NFP, that is personalized to YOUR cycle, and your situation—they are simply a charting tool.
Why Is it Important to learn NFP from a Teacher?
How Do I Find an NFP Teacher?
How do I find a Doctor that does not just push contraception or IVF?
My doctors said I have undiagnosed infertility—can you help me?
CANFP Membership
Why should I become a CANFP Member?
How do I update my membership account information?
You can update your own membership account information from your account dashboard, which you can access using the profile photo button to the top right in the teal bar. Here you can: Update your contact information; Request or discontinue mail delivery of your printed version of the quarterly CANFP NEWS; Manage recurring donations; View your history of Store purchases; View your membership status; Begin, renew or cancel your Membership; Change payment method for your membership; and Professional Members can update their Directory listing.
How can I renew my membership?
If you already signed up for a membership on the website and paid with a credit or debit card, your membership will automatically renew every month or year, depending on the option you chose when signing up.
If you signed up for your membership on our website and chose “Pay via Check”, your membership will be renewed by our team as long as check payments are received on time. You will receive a renewal email 30 days before your membership renewal date. This is your first warning to send in your next check. You will be sent a reminder email 1 day after your “renewal” date if payment has not been received. At this time, your account will also be placed into a 15 day grace period.
If payment is received within this grace period, your account will remain active. If payment is not received, your membership will be closed automatically. If this happens and you wish to re-open your membership account, navigate to the Membership tab in your Account Dashboard. You will see your previous membership plan listed along with a Renew button. Click this button and fill out the fields that appear. If you choose to pay via credit or debit card, your account will be reactivated automatically. If you choose to pay via check, your account will be reopened once payment is received.
All check payments must be sent to:
1217 Tyler St.
Salinas, CA 93906
Professional Directory Listings
I teach NFP, how can I be listed in the CANFP Professional Directory?
CANFP Community
What is CANFP Community?
As a member of CANFP, you are able to access our private digital community. Our community is made up of numerous groups, some of which are private and accessible by invite only. You will have the option to participate in forums and private messaging in the groups that you are a member of. Groups are broken up by specialized roles, language, and topics and are determined based on information provided during registration.
How do I use CANFP Community?
If you are a member of CANFP, you automatically have access to our digital community! You can access any groups you are a part of (you are added to parent groups automatically based on a variety of factors, including the role questions you answered during signup), some parent groups also have subgroups within them. While some of these subgroups are private and accessible by invite only, others are open to anyone in the parent group and you can join and subscribe at any time.
You can also click on other group members to access their profiles, allowing you to connect (or “friend”) them or send them private messages.
Each group and subgroup also have their own forums. Within these forums, you can post questions or topics for group members to respond to (please keep discussion points relevant to the group you are posting in). When someone responds to a discussion you posted or chose to subscribe to, you will receive notifications on our website and via email (this can be disabled in your profile settings).
Private messages can be viewed in the Messages tab, this works similarly to Facebook Messenger or WhatsApp. NOTE: You must first be connected (friends) with an individual before you can send them a private message. This helps our users control who can reach out to them directly. If you would like someone to stop messaging you, you can disconnect from them and/or block them.
