Anyone here used NFP to prevent pregnancy for a long time?

#1

I was wondering if anybody here has used NFP to avoid conception for an extended period - like, a few years.

I know people who say it works, but they all have several kids. They indicate that this is what they wanted, anyway. I am happy for them, but what I am looking for is reassurance that people have used it sucessfully for extended periods.

I have sufficiently grave reason to avoid another pregnancy, and I know that there are studies that show it’s as effective as any form of artificial birth control. But, I was wondering how it’s actually working in practice. I do hear a lot of “Yeah, I used NFP… and then I got pregnant.” I am not rude enough to ask “But, did you really do it RIGHT?” or “Just how committed were you to doing it right?”

#2

There was an unofficial survey done on these boards a few months back, I believe it was begun by Princess Abby, with loads of information that would assist you. You might run a search.

Due to grave health reasons, we used NFP to avoid for 13 years so far…

#3

I tried to find it, but no luck. And, you have to wait 60 seconds between attempts to search. So, it took me five minutes to try five searches!

Anyway, thanks for your input.

#4

I had the originator wrong, here is the link:

forums.catholic.com/showthread.php?t=154521

#5

I think Rayne has been avoiding for a long time as well, perhaps 10 or more years? She has problems with her health. Hopefully, she’ll chime in.

#6

thanks for that!

#7

hi hopeful, DH & I have been using NFP to avoid a pregnancy for 10 yrs. due to serious health reasons I have (bloodclotting disorder-- my body throws clots at any given time, bloodthinners caused serious GI bleeds to the point of well, I won’t go there).

I was advised by all of my MDs that we can’t get pregnant because of the fact that I’ve bled out several times on bloodthinners and had a stroke and am prone to more).

So, I am just grateful to be an aunt to 3 awesome nieces and 5 great nephews and a wife to my husband who’s been a saint in taking care of me. :smiley:

yes, we’ve been charting faithfully and not once have we been worried “what if” because whenever we were in doubt, we just considered ourselves fertile and then counted 3 days pp.

hope this helps. good luck 2 u.

#8

I had one daughter before I started using NFP. I have a life threatening heart condition and it would be fatal for me to become pregnant again. I have used NFP for 10 years to avoid pregnancy.

For NFP to be successful one has to use it properly. Take a class if at all possible -having a teacher opposed to just reading a book about it makes a big difference in my opinion. I think many people who become pregnant take a risk on an “iffy” day. Either cut to close to their ovulation time, are intimate when the signs are not clear etc. I can not afford to take those kinds of risk, I have no intention of playing russian roulette with my life. That being said my hubby and I enjoy many days of intimacy, NFP had been a great gift to our marriage.

#9

We have used NFP for 22 of our 23 years of marriage; have four beautiful kids/teenagers, none we did not “plan” on - we knew we were fertile and were open to more children.

Hard part the last few years has been no sex other than during fertile times (we did not always follow the Catechism because we did not know about it; we used to be there for each other when and how we wanted or needed). I still have difficulty at times understanding this (I know, some will say we can always have sex, but I disagree - if we follow NFP and cannot, in our case, afford more kids, than we cannot have sex when we want). This has not helped us in the intimacy department, and no, backrubs and hugging doesn’t always help. I cannot say the combination of NFP and church catechism has been a blessing for us. It is, however, what the church says, and it is what my wife believes as well, so there is no choice. I have posted the question before of whether there is such a thing as good, fun, healthy Catholic sex; I don’t think there is anymore.

I have thought of whether I’d ever leave the church over this or its growing stance on accepting illegal immigration, for example. But the bottom line is what the Catholic Church offers - the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist, in which I have always believed.

#10

We have been avoiding pregnancy for 9 or so years.

Having sex whenever one wants is not a right.

When the kids were younger it was a juggling act between meeting the kids’ needs, relaxing and being interested, and all that stuff. It’s easier now, but there are still problems. Big deal. We’re adults.

By the way - revealing secrets, our innermost thoughts - can be just as intimate as 'having the excitement" (as Frank McCourt calls it).

#11

I have serious health reasons also to avoid pregnancy, not life threatening but not wise. We have been using it for the last 8 years with no pregnancy.

#12

We have been married for 23 years and have always used NFP. We have 2 daughters in college and a son in high school which were all planned. Our intimacy has gotten much better the last few years. We are very happy we knew about NFP from the beginning. Learning about Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body has been really helpful to us.

#13

We used it for 4 years to avoid pregnancy-- during which time I had a very irregular schedule (worked nights 2-3 days/week). It wasn’t always easy, but it worked! We then used it to help us conceive our second child, which happened within 3 months of “trying”.

#14
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