NFP - Frequently Asked Questions

Is NFP effective? Yes!   99% Effective in postponing or achieving pregnancy ... With regard to spacing or limiting pregnancies, NFP is 99% successful when couples understand the methods, are motivated, and follow the guidelines. And ... many couples who have experienced infertility difficulties have overcome them, primarily through close observation of the woman's cycles. Is it really 99% effective? Yes. Click here for a recent scientific study showing its effectiveness in the prevention of pregnancy.) Click here for another study, with statistics from the World Health Organization. Similarly, NFP has been proven to help couples with infertility problems achieve a pregnancy.² 

How does it work? NFP utilizes the latest Reproductive science ... Today we understand the human body, especially the reproductive system, much better than we did even 20 years ago. Fertility specialists have taught us how to read the signs of when a woman is likely to conceive, and when it’s almost impossible. Using those signs, we can now show couples how to achieve or avoid pregnancy with up to 99% effectiveness—that’s higher than any method of simple contraception, according to the World Health Organization. Click here to find out more  

Is it safe for me? and the environment? Yes! 100% Natural ... That means if you’re having fertility problems, NFP can significantly raise the odds that you’ll conceive. If you need to limit or postpone having children, NFP can help you do that, too—without chemicals, hormones, abortifacient pills, devices, implants or surgery, and with zero side effects. Best of all, by working with—instead of against—the way a woman’s body is designed, you’re also cooperating with God, in His plan for you and your marriage.
 

Isn't it the old "Rhythm Method"? No! NFP is completely different than the old "Rhythm Method” ... which relied on inaccurate average calculations of when most women were fertile ... even so, the Rhythm Method proved to be over 84% effective!

How can it work- aren't we all different? NFP is personalized ... Every woman learns how to understand her own body and its cycles, through one or more simple biological signs. With her husband, the two of them discuss and record their observations, gaining an awareness of and new appreciation for their shared fertility. If a couple wants to conceive, they make love on fertile days. If they need to wait—well, they wait until the infertile times. The average woman is fertile from 8-10 days a month. NFP works for women of any age, and even for women with irregular cycles.

Are there side effects and health risks from using NFP?  No! Natural Family Planning does not have any negative side effects since NFP works with the natural cycle of a woman's body and does not use any anything artificial substances.

There are however, side effects from using chemical contraception.  A recent study from the Mayo Clinic concluded there is "a measurable and statistically significant" connection between the pill and pre-menopausal breast cancer, re-enforcing the recent classification of oral contraceptives as Type 1 carcinogens." Please read the full article here. 

What are the benefits of NFP? 

• You don't have to take chemicals, pills, etc.
   

• it's virtually free- after the initial cost of learning NFP,  it gives you a lifetime of use without having to return to the doctor annually for a prescription (like "the pill")

  • Encourages couple communication & interaction
     

  • Fosters mutual responsibility by husband and wife
     

• Fosters deep respect and acceptance of the total person
   

• Values children and openness to life
   

• Cooperates with God's plan for marriage
   

• it's environment friendly!  NFP doesn't use any chemicals or plastics so it's completely h

for more information on the benefits of NFP go to: USCCB - An Introduction to Natural Family Planning

What does it cost? Class fees vary.  Courses length varies; often a sliding scale based on income is used to determine the fee.  Please check with your instructor about class fees.  Once the instruction has been completed though,  the costs are virtually nonexistent.  It gives you a lifetime of use without having to refill a monthly prescription like "the pill".

Are we going to have 20 kids if we use NFP? No!  NFP, when used properly, is just as effective as contraception at spacing or delaying pregnancy. 

What are the various Natural Family Planning Methods? click here to find out

Are there doctors who support Natural Family Planning? Yes! click here to find out more
 

I'm struggling with Infertility.  Can NFP help? Yes! click here for more information
 

What's the difference between NFP and contraception? click here to find out more

What are some NFP Resources? click here to find out

How do I begin? click here to find out

Where/When can I take a NFP class? click here to find out

Is NFP right for us? We partner with highly-trained and caring individuals as well as couples who practice and teach NFP to others. They face the same challenges you do every day—and have the expertise to guide you in making smart choices about love, sexuality, and childbirth, in the clear light of Christ. Through introductory classes offered throughout the Archdiocese of New York year round, these trained professionals explain how NFP is 99% effective and 100% natural.  Through private and/or small group follow-up sessions, couples learn practical approaches to NFP, and how it can help them achieve or postpone pregnancy, as well as enhance their relationship.
 

Won't this put a burden on us?  Couples who use natural family planning to space the births of children find that it brings about many positive changes in their relationship. It begins with acceptance, and even wonder, at the way the human body is made. As one woman noted, "Knowing and learning about what goes on inside of my unique body amazed me." Women especially find information about their fertility and their bodies empowering. Women gain a new respect for themselves and often finds that their husbands have a new supportive attitudes. One women said "My husband respects me as a person in my own right. He accepts my fertility as part of me." This new-found confidence contrasts with what one woman explained about how she felt using contraceptives: "I was required to sacrifice my health ... I felt as if I were an object, and not an equal partner in our marriage."

Couples using NFP accept their fertility -- not as a nuisance or even a disease -- but as a gift. When the physical pleasures of sexual intercourse are a couple's primary focus, either spouse can feel used.  NFP helps couples understand that their spouse is not a sexual object, but as a person with great dignity and deserving respect. NFP does not lessen the importance of sexual union and sexual pleasure, but it helps couples to find other ways in which to connect, and be attentive to each other as well. In this way, NFP can reignite the romance of dating for a married couple. As NFP couples often say: "Every week we have a wedding night."

Periodic abstinence is difficult at times. But it also brings its own reward. Men find they can direct sexual urges in the service of love and not be controlled by it. Only if a man is in full possession of himself can he love his wife well. As one husband said, "NFP has challenged me to self-mastery, so that I can freely give of myself." The nature of married love is total self-giving. If one is controlled by sex or withholds part of himself or herself (I.e. his or her fertility), that person cannot give totally to another. Self-mastery, on the other hand, can actually enhance sexual pleasure. Many couples explain: "Giving our whole selves to each other intensified the sensations of pleasure and the feeling of unity in this expression of our love."

When NFP is adopted as a lifestyle, fertility is regarded as a gift and children are valued & welcomed. A sense of awe at the power to procreate strikes many couples during the fertile time. One couple remarked that "NFP opened our hearts to children ... Children are a gift, a blessing, not a burden." Others have remarked that the time of fertility comes to be viewed with "a tremendous reverence" because fertility is "the time God created us to create." When a couple knows the most fertile time in the cycle and tries to achieve pregnancy, it becomes a shared joy.

NFP instruction emphasizes shared responsibility not only for having children, but also for managing their combined fertility. Taking responsibility for fertility means  both spouses accept the challenge of abstinence during the fertile phase if they wish to avoid pregnancy. NFP requires couples to really communicate, not just "talk".  It helps them to connect about many things that may have been difficult to talk about before, including their sexuality. By charting their fertility, they now have a starting point for discussing the deeper and more intimate aspects of their life together -- such as their sexual feelings, desires, and hopes or fears about pregnancy. Good, substantive interpersonal communication strengthens a marriage.

Many couples say that an NFP lifestyle deepens their faith in God. "(NFP) involved us with the Truth ....We experienced ... the conversion point in our lives." "NFP is putting ourselves in God's hands, totally allowing Him to work spiritually in our lives." With so many rewards for those who persevere with NFP it would be surprising if there were not also challenges. As one husband says: "The reality is that NFP is challenging .... (But) it is clear to me that working together through the tough times strengthens and enriches our marriage." And as another spouse says: "The value I experience in NFP is in the long run .... It forces you to place your immediate choices in the context of spouse, children, family and Creator."

NFP Coordinator
nfpinfo@archny.org
646.794.3197