"Life-Giving Love in an Age of Technology" (USCCB, 2009) "It is estimated today that one out of six couples will experience infertility. The suffering of unanticipated childlessness is real. Spouses may feel they have somehow failed, that they are inadequate in a basic aspect of marital life. Their pain may even be aggravated by regret or guilt over past contraceptive use, sterilization, abortion, or other factors that can contribute to infertility. The sight of other couples' children may make them year for a child all the more and add to their distress. Infertility can affect a couple's sexual relationship and the stability of their marriage. It may even affect relationships with parents and in-laws who express disappointment at the absence of grandchildren. Catholic couples may feel this pain even more deeply as they hear the Church praise family life and teach that children are the 'supreme gift of marriage.'
In an age of advances in reproductive medicine, many solutions are offered to couples going through this distress. Some solutions offer real hope for restoring a couple's natural, healthy ability to have children. Others pose serious moral problems by failing to respect the dignity of the couple's marital relationship, of their sexuality, or of the child. The Church has compassion for couples suffering from infertility and wants to be of real help to them.
Finding Solutions Through NaProTECHNOLOGY and Diet/Lifestyle Changes NaProTECHNOLOGY uses the biomarkers of the Creighton Model FertilityCare System to recognize health and disease. These biomarkers are "an authentic language of a woman's health and fertility." NaProTECHNOLOGY identifies the problem, cooperates with the menstrual and fertility cycles, corrects the condition, maintains the human ecology, and sustains procreative potential. NaProTECHNOLOGY is of greater effectiveness than in vitro fertilization for helping infertile couples achieve pregnancy. All NFP charting methods provide insight into a woman's fertility status. In many cases, changes in diet & lifestyle may be enough to improve fertility cycles and chances for conceiving and sustaining a much desired pregnancy. For more information on how your diet can affect your fertility, check out Fertility, Cycles and Nutrition: How Your Diet Affects Your Menstrual Cycles & Fertility
Catholic Women's Healthcare & Infertility
Women's Healthcare That Reverences Your Life... And The Life Of Your Family This page is for women of all ages who want a natural approach to women's healthcare that reverences her fertility and health. The resources contained within uphold Catholic teaching and support women in understanding their fertility to identify and correct any underlying abnormalities and restore her back to health.
In particular, these resources are vital for women struggling with infertility. Our hope is that this page -- and its prayer and information resources -- will encourage renewed hope and consolation.
NaPro TECHNOLOGY
Infertility presents couples with an unexpected cross. Marriage is inherently called to bring forth new life, and those couples unable to conceive suffer from this unfulfilled, natural human desire. There is hope. The Creighton Model FertilityCareTM System, used in conjunction with NaPro TECHNOLOGY – a medical approach cooperating with natural hormonal balance of the human body, can increase a couple’s potential to conceive a child.
National Gianna Center for Women's Health & Fertility
Catholic Health Care for Women, Infertility Concerns, Natural Family Planning, etc. The Gianna Center provides comprehensive gynecologic primary care and specialized fertility and family planning techniques to uncover the causes of infertility for all women. They offer a natural alternative to assisted reproductive technologies such as in vitro fertilization, in accordance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.
For a list of Gianna centers and its affiliates, you can check here.
Saint Peter’s Gianna Center of Manhattan Anne Nolte, MD 15 E. 40th Street Suite 101 New York, NY 10016 Phone: (212) 481-1219 Fax: (212) 481-1423 Learn More
Gianna Center of Long Island Paul Carpentier, MD, CFCMC222 Gianna Center of Long Island 1000 Montauk Hwy West Islip, New York 11795 Phone: (631) 376-3232 Learn More
Gianna Center of Philadelphia Delia Larrauri, MD, FACOG Barbara Rose, AGPCNP, CFCP 2705 DeKalb Pike, Suite 207 East Norriton, PA 19401 Phone: (844) 204-0005 Learn More
Gianna Center of Albany Jan Patterson, MD, DABFM, CFMCMC, FCP 242 South Central Avenue Mechanicville, NY 12118 Phone: (518) 779-5225 Learn More
Gianna Center of Syracuse Karen Dalton, MD 127 Chapel Drive Syracuse, NY 13219 Phone: (315) 488-3139 ext. 16 Learn More
Mercy Care for Women’s Health, an Affiliate of The National Gianna Center Cynthia Mangubat, MD 819 S. Governors Ave Dover, DE 19904 Phone: (302) 883-3677 Fax: (302) 736-6951 Learn More
Morningstar Family Health Center Jean Golden-Tevald, DO, CFCP, FCP Eddie Fleming, MD, NFPMC 54 Old Route 22 Clinton, NJ 08809 Phone: (908) 735-9344 Fax: (908) 735-7136 Learn More
Gianna Family Care Terese Bauer, MD Angelique Pritchett, MD, FCMCr. 10820 West 64th Street, Suite 202 Shawnee, KS 66203 Telephone: (913) 890-2555 Fax: (913) 890-2550 Learn More
St. Gianna’s Center in FL the Smart Sixty-Six office center at 2360 66th St. N, Room C2 in Largo, FL 33773. Learn More
Dealing With Infertility by Julie Kelemen, discussing what the Church teaches about assisted reproductive technologies and offers comfort and advice on how to deal with the emotional, financial, and spiritual challenges of infertility.
“New Hope in Infertility” by Dr. Anne Nolte, founder of the Gianna - Catholic Healthcare Center for Women.