Fertility Awareness

Healthy Sexuality & Fertility Awareness

As Pope Francis writes in Amoris Laetitia, our sexuality “is a gift from God that enriches the relationship of the spouses. As a passion sublimated by a love respectful of the dignity of the other, it becomes a ‘pure, unadulterated affirmation’ revealing the marvels of which the human heart is capable. (AL, 152) In other words, as a gift of married love sexual intercourse is a symbolic reflection of the inner form of love, which is a vow. “I love you,” means I love you completely
and forever.

Whatever God’s plan for a married couple, true love is always fruitful and life-giving. As married couples renew their vows through sexual intercourse, they are called to responsible openness towards co-creating new life with God. Family planning decisions are prayerfully made through mutual discernment, enlightened by faith.

Two people smiling at a newborn wrapped in a star-patterned blanket, standing near a window. A world map is visible in the background.
A person wearing a striped shirt lifts a child wearing a red shirt and jeans into the air in front of a white brick building.

What is Natural Family Planning (NFP) or Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABM)?

Natural Family Planning (NFP), or Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABM), is the umbrella term for the natural, healthy, morally acceptable methods of family planning recommended by the Catholic Church to help couples space, achieve, or avoid pregnancy. It helps married couples either achieve or postpone pregnancies, while respective the love-giving (unitive) and life-giving (procreative) nature of the sexual act. NFP enriches a couple’s relationship while encouraging a level of intimacy that reflects marital love: one that is free, total, faithful, and fruitful. Furthermore, NFP is completely natural, green, and organic – no drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid or achieve pregnancy.

During each monthly cycle, a woman normally becomes fertile and then infertile, with her body providing natural signs to indicate where she is in her cycle. Scientifically and medically researched methods of fertility awareness teach couples how to observe and interpret these signs, enabling them to achieve or avoid pregnancy naturally. When couples learn about NFP from an instructor or from an online course, most of them arrive at a greater appreciation for the wonderful gift of their fertility, their sexuality, and their own bodies.

Benefits Of Natural Family Planning

A couple holds a baby in a grassy field during sunset, the light casting a warm glow around them.

NFP/FABM Providers

Billings Ovulation Method Association

Billings Ovulation Method Association offers training in the Ovulation Method (OM) that charts the presence and changes in cervical mucus. More information is available at boma-usa.org or call 651-699-8139.

Family of the Americas also offers training in the Ovulation Method. More information is available at familyplanning.net.

Learn NFP Online, by The Marriage Group offers an introduction to NFP ($25) and online training in the Billings Ovulation Method ($49). More information is available at learnnfponline.com.

Couple to Couple League teaches the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) using BBT, cervical mucus, and changes in the cervix. More information is available at ccli.org or call 800-745-8252.

Creighton Model Fertility Care System (CrMs) provides instruction in an Ovulation Method (OM) that charts the presence and changes in cervical mucus. More information is available at fertilitycare.org or call 402-505-8917.

Marquette University College of Nursing Institute for NFP offers training in the Sympto-Hormonal Method (SHM) that uses hormonal monitoring and may also use BBT and cervical mucus. More information is available at nfp.marquette.edu or call 414-288-3854.

SymptoPro provides instruction in the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) using BBT, cervical mucus, and changes in the cervix. More information is available at symptopro.org or call 971-280-9676.

Whole Mission: Marquette Method Natural Family Planning Services aims to encourage the family by growing and promoting access to and research for secure methods of natural family planning, specifically the Marquette Method. Learn more at mmnfp.com.

Vitae Fertility: Vitae Fertility Education teaches the Marquette Method of Natural Family Planning (NFP), a highly effective method of NFP that employs the Clearblue line of home-based fertility monitors to track women’s hormone changes throughout each menstrual cycle. Learn more at vitaefertility.com.

Orchid Fertility & Wellness: Orchid is an association of FertilityCare practitioners based right here in San Diego. A practitioner instructs and counsels women in learning the Creighton Model, customizing the program to meet each woman or couple’s individual needs. Learn more at https://www.orchidfertility.com/starthere.

NFP Ambassadors In San Diego

To learn more about NFP and to help you navigate the NFP landscape, we encourage you to contact one of the NFP Ambassadors in your parish or area. NFP Ambassadors are familiar with the many opportunities for instruction, both in-person and online, and are equipped to help you navigate among them and get started. Some NFP Ambassadors are also trained instructors and may even offer
classes themselves.

Showing 1 to 19 of 19 entries

County

Name

Phone

Email

Instructions

East County
Faiza Saroki
619-425-0646
faizasaroki@yahoo.com
Ovulation Method (Family of the Americas)
Imperial Valley (El Centro Catholic)
Daniel & Arlene Ramirez
760-353-9923
Ramirez.arlene@gmail.com
Ovulation Method (Family of the Americas)
Imperial Valley (St. Anthony’s)
Brianah Wong
760-791-1113
blw244@nau.edu
North County Coastal
Carolyn Kelley
760-758-6881
kelleyteam@gmail.com
North County Coastal (St. Mary Star of the Sea)
Christine Hinrichs
815-990-3079
christine.e.hinrichs@gmail.com
Ovulation Method (Billings)
North County Coastal (St. Patrick’s)
Adam & Pilar Schmitz
760-519-3346
pilarjschmitz@gmail.com
Sympto-Thermal Method (Couple-to-Couple League)
North County Inland
Erica Rossio
760-715-6010
erica@orchidfertility.com
Ovulation Method (Creighton Model)
North County Inland (St. Mary’s)
Mercedes Aguilar
760-580-9563
mercedesmaguilar10@gmail.com
North County Inland (St. Mary’s)
Alma & Eduardo Reyes
760-713-7092
2343alma@gmail.com
North County Inland (St. Mary’s)
Lidia Rennix
760-271-7743
lrennixstmary@gmail.com
North County Inland (St. Mary’s)
Carol Marie Siedenburg
530-412-1573
carolmarie01@gmail.com
San Diego (Our Lady of Guadalupe)
Griselda Escobedo
cyclicalwoman@gmail.com
Sympto-hormonal (FEMM)
San Diego (St. Charles Borromeo)
Brenda Heyman
619-994-2934
beckheyman@cox.net
San Diego (St. Therese, Del Cerro)
Dave & Cheryl Ross
619-279-3735
davidandcherylross@gmail.com
Sympto-Thermal Method
San Diego (The Immaculata)
Arianna (Ari) Calio
619-574-5704
ariannaallen@sandiego.edu
San Diego North (Good Shepherd)
Vanessa Sablad
858-414-7026
vanessa.sablad@gmail.com
San Diego North (St. Therese of Carmel)
Brittany Reilly
858-242-9199
brit.reilly@gmail.com
South Bay
Sharon Pearce
619-422-0757
sharonpearce@silentvoices.org
Ovulation Method (Billings)
South Bay (Our Lady of Mt. Carmel)
Carolina Mejia
619-341-3731
carolinamejia.cam@gmail.com

Additional Resources

Green Sex, The Case for Natural Family Planning: First comes loves, then comes marriage … then what? If sex is natural, why are we so eager to make it artificial? In this presentation, Jason Evert presents the case for Natural Family Planning as he unveils the beauty of God’s plan for sexuality. Jason has spoken about chastity to more than one million people around the world and is the author or more than a dozen books.

 

FEMM (Fertility Education & Medical Management): We understand the central role of reproductive endocrinology in the management of women’s health. Our goal is to empower women in the achievement of their health and reproductive goals by helping them gain a better understanding of their biology and monthly cycles. We then provide a comprehensive physical and lab workup to diagnose and treat the root causes of health conditions.

 

Natural Womanhood is a non-profit dedicated to the promotion of fertility charting, as a way to promote disease prevention, self-knowledge, relational intimacy, and effective family planning. Natural Womanhood helps young women and couples regardless of their income, ethnicity, or religion.

CANF (California Association of Natural Family Planning): CANFP unites under one umbrella all those who use, teach, and advocate for NFP, and our members are our strongest resource: the physicians who provide authentic women’s healthcare, the Practitioners and Certified Teachers of all the natural methods instructing couples in its use, the couples who use NFP and reflect its values in their families and communities, the clergy providing the spiritual formation and context, and the churches, dioceses, hospitals, and profile organizations who collaborate in providing access to these services throughout the state.

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About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pulido’s coat of arms is divided into four quarters with wavy horizontal lines from top to bottom. The blue and white lines represent the Blessed Virgin Mary. They also suggest water, which alludes to Jesus washing the feet of His disciples and to the waters of baptism. The red and gold lines represent the Holy Spirit and fire. The colors also can be seen as referring to the Blood that (along with water) poured from Jesus’ side at His crucifixion, as well as to the bread (gold) and wine (red) transformed into the Eucharist. At the center is a roundel featuring a symbolic representation of the “mandatum” (washing of the feet), which he believes exemplifies service to all humanity. The roundel’s outer edge is a line composed of small humps; it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Diocese of Yakima, where Bishop Pulido served as a priest before being named a bishop.

About the Coat of Arms

Bishop Pham’s coat of arms depicts a red boat on a blue ocean, which is crisscrossed by diagonal lines suggesting a fisherman’s net. This symbolizes his ministry as a “fisher of men,” as well as how his own father had been a fisherman. The boat is also a symbol of the Church, which is often referred to as the “barque of Peter.” At the center of the sail is a red beehive (a symbol of the bishop’s baptismal patron saint, St. John Chrysostom, who was known as a “honey-tongued” preacher). The beehive is surrounded by two green palm branches (an ancient symbol of martyrdom; the bishop’s ancestors were among Vietnam’s first martyrs). The eight red tongues of fire around the boat are a symbol of the Holy Spirit and a representation of the diversity of ethnic and cultural communities. The red of the boat, the beehive and the tongues of fire allude to the blood of the martyrs.

About the Coat of Arms

The coat of arms combines symbols that reflect Bishop Bejarano’s spiritual life and priestly ministry. The main part of the shield shows four wavy vertical lines on a gold background. These represent flowing waters. This alludes to his chosen motto and also symbolizes the graces that come from the Divine life to quench our thirst for God. The upper third of the shield is red because it is borrowed from the coat of arms of the Order of Mercy, of which the Bishop’s patron saint, Raymond Nonnatus, was a member. The central symbol resembles a monstrance because St. Raymond is often depicted holding one. The Eucharist is Bishop Bejarano’s inspiration for his vocation. It was through the Eucharist that he received his call to the priesthood at age seven and which keeps his faith and his ministry going. It represents the call to offer oneself as a living sacrifice. The monstrance is flanked on either side by an image of the Sacred Heart, alluding to the mercy of God and echoing the idea of a sacrificial offering of oneself united to the sacrifice of Christ, and of a rose for Our Lady. It is an allusion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of the Americas, and highlights the bishop’s Hispanic heritage.

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