Birth Control

Birth control has always been something in the back of my mind, but I knew I would never really had to answer the question for sure until my future husband and I discussed it prior to getting married.

I have researched it off and on for a couple years and I’ve learned about different methods of birth control. One that always fascinated me was the Fertility Awareness Method (also known as Natural Family Planning, but NFP is a little different). I know a few people who have used FAM for birth control and for pregnancy achievement as well. The more I looked into it, the more I realized that it was the way I want to go.

Now that Nathan and I are approaching engagement and I'm looking into wedding stuff, I am more and more sure that I do not want to use hormonal birth control (the Pill, Depo Provera shots, etc). I talked to Nathan about it, and he's totally supportive.

FAM is a scientifically-based method (unlike the Rhythm method, which is complete bunk - and also sometimes mistaken for FAM/NFP) that a lot of people use to try to conceive, but it is also highly effective (if used properly) as birth control. It (along with Natural Family Planning) gets a bad rap because of the failure rates don’t take into account user-failure. A lot of people don’t take the time to really understand how to use it, or they aren’t really trying all that hard to avoid.

Anyway, I got a book about FAM, Taking Charge of Your Fertility (TCOYF), and read up on it and started charting. It can seem complicated at first, but it's not really all that difficult once you get the hang of it. It’s not really any more difficult than remembering to take a pill every day!

Basically, I take my temperature every morning before I get out of bed and record it on a chart. There are a couple other things I take note of during the day and record as well. For most women there is a clear jump in temperature as hormones change, combined with other signs that my body gives me, that indicates when ovulation occurs. Another thing I really like about FAM is that I have become a lot more familiar with my body and my cycle. And for when Nathan and I get married, there are certain rules (based on how long sperm and eggs can survive) that we would use to determine when we'd need to use barrier methods of birth control.

As far as hormonal birth control is concerned, I have a few reason for not wanting to take it:

1. Moral – The abortion factor. I know it’s debatable as to whether the Pill actually causes abortions or not, but I’d rather not risk it. Most types of hormonal birth control work on a one to all of a few different levels. First, they prevent ovulation from occurring at all. Second, they thin the lining of the uterine wall, preventing any egg that might have been fertilized from implanting. There’s a third, but I don’t remember offhand what it is. I believe that life starts at conception, and that conception starts at fertilization. I am not at peace at all about taking the Pill for this reason.

2. Physical – I am already prone to health issues, so I don’t want to mess with my natural hormones and screw things up even more! Additionally, my mom never took hormonal birth control, and she never had issues with fertility. My aunt, on the other hand, did use hormonal birth control and she had fertility problems once she went off it, and she also battled breast cancer later on. My family has cancer tendencies, and I don’t want to add to the risk. Additionally, there is a history of various forms of depression in my family, and I know that hormonal birth control can affect women mentally as well. I just do not want to deal with the possible side effects.

3. Spiritual – The only reason I would even use birth control of any kind is because I don’t believe that it’s in God’s plan for us to start a family right away. There are other places that he is leading us at this point in time. However, once he leads us to start a family, with FAM, we’d be able to start trying right away! We wouldn’t have to deal with the residual effects of hormonal birth control and the possibility of miscarriage.


Here are some resources:

FAM info: www.tcoyf.com

Free online charting software (designed for women trying to conceive, but also useful combined with FAM birth control guidelines): www.fertilityfriend.com

I really believe that this is a beneficial and useful alternative, and I wish I knew more people who used it. I don't know anyone in my area who uses this method (although I'm sure there's SOMEONE!). And it's unfortunate that it gets a bad rap at times, or doesn't even get mentioned as an option!