NFP Awareness Week

Join the Office of Marriage, Family, and Life in praying a novena for chastity and purity in the world. We will begin on Wednesday, July 18 in preparation for the USCCB's NFP Awareness Week and end on the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne. The novena can be found in the Related Content section below.

The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week highlight the anniversary of the papal encyclical Humanae Vitae (July 25) which articulates Catholic beliefs about human sexuality, conjugal love and responsible parenthood. The dates also mark the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne (July 26), the parents of the Blessed Mother.

Modern Natural Family Planning (NFP) is healthy, medically safe, reliable and easy to learn. An Archdiocesan NFP Board coordinates the promotion and understanding of the gifts of life, fertility, and sexuality.


The Basis for Natural Family Planning

Men are ordinarily fertile at all times; during a cycle, a woman normally becomes fertile and then naturally infertile. As this happens, her body provides certain signs or symptoms that indicate her fertility or infertility. If the couple wishes to avoid pregnancy during a fertile time, NFP teaches abstinence during the fertile time and encourages non-genital ways of expressing love and affection.


Natural Family Planning is Healthy

• NFP is Medically Safe – There are no harmful side effects involved in the practice of Natural Family Planning. The couple is free from drugs, devices or chemicals that alter their normal reproductive systems and cause unwanted and dangerous side effects.

• NFP is Reliable and Easy to Learn – Studies have demonstrated a method effectiveness of 99% in avoiding pregnancy when NFP is properly taught, understood, and used by a motivated couple. NFP is as effective as any drug on the market. NFP is not to be confused with calendar rhythm, which was not able to account for cycle irregularity. NFP is helpful to couples who experience difficulty achieving pregnancy because it enables them to identify the most fertile times in each cycle.

• NFP Protects New Life – There is nothing to hinder the development of the newly conceived life. All chemical forms of birth control change the lining of the uterus. All forms of the Pill, IUD, and birth control injections and implants can cause an early abortion in any given cycle.

• NFP Promotes Intimacy – Ongoing communication and creative means of showing affection are a part of successful NFP practice.