Reverend Joseph E. Kurtz, D.D. Bishop | Archdiocese of Louisville

Eight months into her marriage, Katie Parris sought divine guidance on motherhood, asking for a sign in the form of white flowers. Shortly after, a pregnant friend visited with white flowers from her garden. Encouraged by this sign, Katie and her husband Matthew Parris embarked on a six-year journey through infertility.

“I didn’t tell anyone about it for a long time,” said Katie Parris. “I hung onto that (sign) for years, and God is faithful.” Today, they are parents to six children under nine years old, thanks to natural family planning (NFP).

NFP involves regulating birth by tracking a woman's fertility markers without interfering with the natural cycle. It aligns with Catholic teachings on human sexuality, unlike contraception.

Katie now shares her experience through the archdiocesan marriage preparation program, Foundations for Marriage. As a certified FertilityCare practitioner trained at the St. Paul VI Institute in Omaha, Nebraska in 2018, she teaches the Creighton model of NFP.

“Because the Creighton model had such an impact on our lives, I felt like it was something I was being called to do,” she explained.

The Creighton model tracks fertility using cervical mucus as a biological marker. “We track that in a very detailed way," said Katie Parris. Other NFP methods use different markers like basal body temperature and hormone levels.

For those seeking medical support alongside NFP, NaPro Technology works with Creighton charting to help achieve or avoid pregnancy and diagnose conditions like endometriosis and PCOS.

“They created the Creighton model to track cycles and created NaPro to treat based on the chart,” Katie explained.

The couple met at the University of Louisville's Interfaith Center and married after Katie's graduation. They were surprised when pregnancy did not occur naturally over time.

“We didn’t know what to do or who to turn to,” said Katie Parris. Medical providers suggested options contrary to their beliefs: birth control and invitro-fertilization.

“I knew that wasn’t the answer,” she added. Discouraged but determined to adhere to Catholic teachings, they found hope in Creighton through a friend after six years of trying.

Matthew expressed frustration with limited ethical options from medical professionals: “For me, the frustration was the medical community.”

Katie supports women facing similar challenges by teaching them how NFP can be used both for achieving and avoiding pregnancy within church-supported guidelines: “There are many times when couples need to avoid … and the church is supportive of that too."

Matthew emphasized that "the Catholic Church gets a bad rep about its relationship to science — the false dichotomy between faith and science." He argued that better scientific approaches come from church-supported methods like NFP compared to secular alternatives.

Katie stressed that modern NFP methods are scientifically grounded: “This is not the calendar or rhythm method; all NFP now is science-based and symptom-based.”

She has taught over 100 women how these methods can improve fertility outcomes while also benefiting overall health: “Tracking your cycle is super important because it’s a vital sign of your health."

For more information on natural family planning or contacting an instructor, reach out via phone at 636-0296 or email family@archlou.org.