Couple shares their experience with NFP

Kristofer and Mara Morgan, parishioners of St. Theresa Church in Corpus Christi, were teenagers when they married in 2011. The couple, secure in their love for each other, and devout in their faith, always knew they wanted to have children and were guided by a family member to consider a natural, spiritually-led, method for planning their future family.

“At the time we were engaged, my father was a deacon and director of family life at St. Theresa, so he encouraged us to look into different natural family planning methods to figure out which one was best for us,” Mara said.

Natural Family Planning (NFP) is described by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops as a term for specific methods used to achieve and avoid pregnancies. The plans are based on observation of the naturally occurring signs and symptoms of the fertile and infertile phases of a woman's menstrual cycle. No drugs, devices, or surgical procedures are used to avoid pregnancy. 

Countless faith-based websites discuss NFP, but in the Morgan’s search for local resources, they came up with few options. 

“We kind of had to figure it out on our own,” Kristofer said. “We had guidance and support from our families, but nobody to talk to who was actually using any natural family planning methods.”

There are four major methods of NFP, and after some research, the Morgan’s decided the Billings Ovulation Method was the right method for them. It relies on the daily charting of a woman’s cervical mucus pattern to indicate days of fertility. The Billings Ovulation Method, when used correctly, has up to a 99.5 percent rate of preventing pregnancy, which makes it as effective as the pill and more effective than IUDs, condoms, and diaphragms.

“Fertility charting can seem like it’s a lot of work, but it’s actually pretty simple once you get into the routine,” Kristofer said. “It’s just like when you decide to add more prayer to your life, it could be pretty tough at first, but eventually when you get into the routine, you realize it only takes a couple seconds out of your day.”

They were pregnant with their son, Josh, only two months after they were married. After Josh was born, the new parents continued growing in their faith and volunteered with their parish, including assisting with Pre-Cana marriage seminars. The couple helped with tasks like printing out papers for guest speakers, setting up tables, and general duties to keep the seminars running smoothly. One day, because of their involvement with Pre-Cana, they got a call to help hand out NFP pamphlets at different local churches, and it was during that time the couple heard about a need for local NFP teachers.

“I never knew a ‘regular’ person could sign up and learn to become a teacher, so when I heard that, I was immediately interested,” Mara said.

It was November 2013 when the couple answered the call to become Billings Ovulation Method (BOMA) certified instructors, and they attended a vigorous three-day training, followed by a challenging exam. Once the couple passed their exam, they went through a one-year supervised practicum where an experienced NFP teacher monitored their progress, and finally, once the couple was trained to work on their own, they took another test to become BOMA-USA certified. At the time, they were the youngest couple ever to be BOMA certified. 

The couple now teaches one group class a month for the Diocese of Corpus Christi and spends more than 20 hours a month in one-on-one consultation with local couples. 

“We have found from teaching NFP, from sharing this portion of our marriage, we are filled with grace,” Kristofer said. “The time and effort we spend on the meetings is a sacrifice for our family, but we leave the meetings feeling closer to one another and we know we are helping bring the couples closer to what the Church has intended for their marriage.”

It’s undeniably true that most methods of tracking fertility depend heavily on the woman’s cycle, but the couple encourages both husband and wife to take an active role in the process. 

“It’s empowering for a woman to understand their fertility,” Mara said, “and it’s not just good for the woman, but for the couple because it opens up that line of communication. Charting fertility is not going to be a cure-all for all of life’s problems, but some studies show that the rate of couples who stay married goes up if they are using NFP.”

The Morgan’s say they have grown stronger in their faith and marriage thanks to NFP. 

“It has taught us that chastity isn’t just before marriage, but during marriage too,” Mara said. “It’s helped us grow in our appreciation for each other and to look at our marriage as a sacrament and each other as more than ‘roommates.’ My husband is a gift to me, and I’m a gift to him, and in marriage, we fully give ourselves to each other.”

NFP has also taught them a new respect for life.

“Respecting life is more than just being anti-abortion, it applies to every stage in an individual’s life,” Kristofer said. “Respecting life is recognizing people as children of God, as the person they are, both body and soul, instead of just a body.”

The Morgan’s encourage all couples, not just those who are Catholic, to consider natural family planning as a viable way to take charge of their fertility. 

“You are not risking stroke or blood clots or depression like with birth control pills, you are just paying attention to what your body is doing,” Mara said.

The couple says, for those with faith, NFP fits into the call from Genesis to not only procreate and fill the Earth but to do so responsibly and with respect for life.

“The Billings Method recognizes conception as the beginning of life,” Mara said. “Using the method, you're not blocking fertility in any way, and you’re not blocking life. You are trusting your body to work the way God designed it.”

Kristofer is now 26 years old and works at Catholic Charities of Corpus Christi as a resource coordinator for the disaster case management program. Mara is 25, and a stay-at-home mom to Josh, six-years-old, Molly, three-years-old, and Seren, six months. The couple is open to having more children and to grow their family through adoption. 

While the Morgan’s will continue teaching monthly NFP classes to any interested couple of reproductive age, they are also excited about an opportunity to welcome new NFP teachers into the fold with a teacher training session scheduled for Jan. 18-20, 2019 at PAX Christi Liturgical Center. Couples, singles, those in the healthcare profession and anyone interested in dedicating time to teaching the Billings Ovulation Method are welcome to sign up. For more information on the training session call Beth Nguyen at (361) 882-6191 or email [email protected].