Question:
My husband and I are both Catholics. We know that we are not supposed to use artificial birth control, but we worry NFP (natural family planning) is not an effective method of preventing pregnancy. During this recession and money is so tight, we just can’t afford another child right now. As Catholic doctors, what would you advise?
Sincerely, Married and Scared of Catholic Roulette

Dear Married and Scared,
Your question is a very important one to both of us. As married Catholic physicians and parents of five children, we too have struggled with this very same issue. As a young couple we knew the Church’s teaching on marriage and family, but were uncertain how it applied to us in our own personal and professional lives. We hate to admit it, but we were “cafeteria Catholics,” picking and choosing which teachings were acceptable to us. As we became more involved in parish life, we were challenged to learn more about our faith.

As we studied the Catechism and the encyclical “Humanae Vitae,” our eyes were opened to the sad consequences of our contraceptive culture. The more we saw its applications in our own lives, the more we were struck by the frequency it was showing up in our own exam rooms. We saw so many families in crisis. It now dawned on us why couples who use birth control or were sterilized have divorce rates above 50 percent. It struck us to the core.

To help our practice’s brokenhearted adults and their children, we would have to show them a better way. Further study of Pope John Paul’s Theology of the Body convinced us contraception and sterilization goes against the very nature and language of our human bodies. Finally, we became convinced our wise Church had been right all the time. We immediately stopped prescribing contraceptives in our medical practice and resolved to learn as much as possible about the only Church-approved method of family planning — natural family planning (NFP). NFP encompasses a variety of modern methods of fertility awareness.

All methods of NFP allow a woman to confidently determine her fertility status. By daily observing easily identified changes in her body — such as temperature and/or cervical mucus — a woman can know if she is fertile or infertile on any particular day. She can then use this information to achieve or avoid a pregnancy. NFP is inexpensive, easy to learn and does not have any harmful side effects. Studies show that couples using NFP have much stronger marriages, with divorce rates less than 1 percent.

In avoiding a pregnancy, NFP — in actual usage — is just as effective as the birth control pill. Great statistic, but they pale compared with our own experience in our medical practice. Our couples are using and enjoying NFP in their marriages. Their families are healthy and strong. These couples have the joy-filled marriages we all were intended to experience. NFP has enhanced our marriage — and those marriages in our practice — in so many ways. The ultimate vocation of marriage is to bring each other to mutual holiness and sanctification. We know that NFP has helped move us forward on this journey. Why would God want us to use anything else?

Drs. Ben and Rebecca Peck, Peck’s Family Practice in Ormond Beach.

To learn more about Natural Family Planning contact Barbara and Greg Nelsen at 407-260-8679 or the Office of Family Life in your diocese for a complete listing of classes.