Roy & I were married in 1963 and planned to have 10 children. Our first son David, was born in November 1964. Our second son Robbie was born in November 1965. In November 1966, our third son Michael was born and died at about the 20th week of pregnancy – looking so beautiful and the image of his brothers.
It was then I decided that I probably needed to regain some strength before having more babies. We decided that it was a good time to adopt a baby and at that time, Vancouver Catholic Charities was looking for adoptive parents for Native Children. We adopted our newborn son Paul, in June 1967.
I had trained as a registered nurse before we were married, and was aware of a page in my obstetrics book that advised women who were wanting to become pregnant, to take their temperature to determine the time of ovulation. In the brief, two or so paragraphs on the method, it mentioned that they might notice a mucus discharge at the time of ovulation. So, I reasoned that if I added the length of the sperm life and the egg life together, and added a couple of days, I would be able to calculate the infertile period of a cycle.
To my delight, it worked very well. Roy was quite agreeable to the method, as we both wanted to live according to the Teachings of the Church. When I told the doctor what we were doing he said “It’s the Rhythm Method, Russian Roulette – It won’t work!” I just smiled.
In 1968, we were asked to be group home parents for a home run by Catholic Charities in Vancouver. So, we took our 3 kids (under 4 years old) and moved into a group home with 5 teenage boys. This was a 24 hour a day, 7 days a week and 30 days a month job with no breaks, unless we hired somebody to relieve us. Roy worked at his regular job, so it was very demanding, and after several months we took two of the teenage boys with us and moved into our own house again.
All this time, my method of NFP was working very well.
In 1969, we decided we needed a baby girl. So, after informing relatives and friends, who were becoming quite alarmed at the rate of growth of our family, that we wanted to have another baby, I got pregnant with Marie who was born in February 1970.
When anyone would ask me about family planning, I would explain about taking your temperature, but add, “I’m lucky, I have this mucus discharge and I can go by that.”
We moved to Prince George BC in 1970, and our friend there, Bishop O’Grady, was very interested in what I knew about NFP. He told me about Serena and sent me to meet Marie-Paul Doyle from Serena, who was giving a presentation in the Archdiocese of Vancouver. Bishop O’Grady also sent me to California to learn about the Billings Method.
Roy & I became a teacher couple for Serena and Bishop O’Grady had us give talks to all the priests in the Diocese and asked us to go to most of the towns from Prince Rupert to Fort St. John to give talks in the parishes. Bishop O’Grady asked us to talk to students in his high school, (Prince George College, later named O’Grady Catholic High School) and also at the teen camps at Camp Morice. We trained several teacher couples. One couple, Richard & Vicki Braun has been very involved with the Couple to Couple League in the US for many years.
In 1971, we thought that Marie was a bit outnumbered with 3 big brothers and 2 even bigger teenage brothers and needed a sister. So, after announcing to everyone our plan, son Tommy was born in 1972.
Still hoping for a girl, I miscarried a baby in 1975. It was then that we decided that if we were to have another girl, we probably should adopt one. Teresa came to us at 11 months old in 1977. She was deaf and we were told she would never hear anything softer than loud drum beats. After a week, I was sure she could hear, and after having her tested found that she could indeed hear. Her hearing disability resulted from an allergy to cow’s milk – we were living on an acreage and were drinking goat’s milk!
By this time, our foster sons had moved out, and we thought our family of six children was complete. Surprise! Surprise! Teresa at 6 years old decided that she needed a baby sister. Being over 40 years old, I told her “Teresa! You are my baby!” But, every day, beginning in July, she would try to convince me that we should have a baby sister for her. My answer was always the same. I thought this was very strange, because she had never before told me she wanted a sister, and now, it was every day without fail.
By December, especially after visiting a family who had just had their 12th baby, I was beginning to think that maybe it would be a good idea to have another baby.
Early in January, we had a phone call from a very sheepish social worker saying that she didn’t really know how to ask me, but we had an adopted child whose mother had just had a baby. (Teresa must have somehow known she had a sister on the way!) Since they try to keep siblings together, the social worker wanted to know if we would adopt the baby. She didn’t know if it was a boy or a girl. It was a Friday night, and the social worker needed to know by Monday if we would take the baby. I hung up the phone and called Roy. “Would you like a glass of wine?”
We adopted Catherine in January 1983, and she added a whole new dimension to our lives. Her birth mother had been using drugs and alcohol while she was pregnant for which Catherine has paid a terrible price. We have shared her suffering and learned so much from her! I don’t know what we would have done without our Catherine!
We have now been married 50 years. We used NFP for all our fertile married years without any unplanned pregnancies. While teaching about the other methods of contraception, I was always so grateful that we didn’t have to use any of them, ever. How blessed we have been!
Bill and Grace, Ontario
When we were engaged, my future husband suggested we check out Serena method of Natural Family Planning. I was impressed with both my future husband and the method. It was in “tune” with our faith, it was natural and didn’t rely on pills or chemicals, and it wasn’t just the
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Roy and Dianne, BC
Roy & I were married in 1963 and planned to have 10 children. Our first son David, was born in November 1964. Our second son Robbie was born in November 1965. In November 1966, our third son Michael was born and died at about the 20th week of pregnancy – looking
Read their storyMary and Wesley, BC
My husband and I have been using the Symptothermal method taught to us by Serena B.C. for almost three years now. We’ve found it helpful and effective for so many things. I have very irregular periods, with the Symptothermal method I finally know when my periods are going to be
Read their storyJean and Janelle, Manitoba
A few months before our wedding date, we took Serena’ s course on Natural Family Planning (or NFP for short). Our wedding day was May 3rd, 2003; from that day on, we used NFP as a couple to both avoid and achieve pregnancies. During the first two years of our
Read their storyAnonymous
I had a very difficult experience of perimenopause that spanned about a decade, and the pill caused multiple symptoms, including extreme mood swings and breast pain. When I finally sought the help of Serena, they connected me to a husband and wife team who were incredibly patient, thorough, and caring.
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