Discover the truth, beauty and goodness of your fertility and femininity.
For you formed my inward parts;
You knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:13-16
Our fertility is an essential aspect of what makes us who we are - as women and as daughters of God.
The Lord speaks through our bodies. He nourishes, strengthens, builds us up and brings forth our unique gifts and sensitivities at different stages of the cycle.
Practicing fertility awareness (fertility charting) allows you to understand your fertility, your body and deepen your relationship with God, Him who created you. It's also a powerful means for physical and spiritual healing and self discovery.
As women, ovulation (release of an egg) is how we make our hormones. It is the main event of the menstrual cycle. You get your period because you have ovulated.
Fertility awareness and cycle charting involves observing fertility biomarkers and recording this information on a chart (see below). The two main hormones that influence female fertility are estrogen and progesterone. The two main fertility biomarkers are cervical mucus and basal body temperature.
Cervical mucus is produced in response to estrogen. Basal body temperature increases after ovulation due to progesterone.
By paying attention to these and other menstrual cycle and fertility indicators, a woman can have an intimate and accurate understanding of her hormones and her reproductive and overall health.
A sample fertility chart
Natural Family Planning (NFP)
Women are only fertile for a few days each cycle (unlike men who are fertile all the time). This is a key and defining difference between men and women. Natural family planning (NFP) is a tool for couples to determine the natural patterns of a woman's fertility to support conception or postpone pregnancy.
Men & women's bodies don't make sense on their own. Every system of the human body functions by itself, except the reproductive system. This complementarity draws men and women to one another. They complete each other when they come together in marriage and gift themselves to one another in the sexual union.
The sexual union is both procreative and unitive - in plain language, sex is for babies and bonding. Not every time a couple has sex will result in a pregnancy - but sex must always be open to life. Conversely, times of abstinence in marriage enhances intimacy, and promotes trust and communication.
Understanding your fertility, hormonal and reproductive health can help to identify any areas that might need support through dietary, nutritional and lifestyle changes before a couple is trying to conceive.
The Church teaches that there may be grave circumstances under which it is in the best interest of a couple to avoid or postpone having a child. It is up to the discernment of each couple to determine their individual circumstances.
Learn to chart your cycles with the NFPTA method on the Read Your Body app!
