Why Do We Bother With NFP Awareness Week? Aren't We All "Aware" Already?

I guess it had to happen eventually - NFP week burnout. It was real this year.

I saw more than a few comments and posts along the lines of “Enough already! I’m already aware of NFP!”
And....that’s nice.
But we still need NFP week. Even thee who believes it to no longer be relevant. Here’s why.

Even Catholics are severely lacking in NFP Awareness

There are probably more old wives tales and myths about fertility than any other aspect of medicine (though perhaps diet woo gives it a run). I have heard terribly misinformed things from very smart people in this regard.
“Irregular cycles are incompatible with NFP.”
“You can’t use x method postpartum.”
“Breastfeed and you’re fine!”

Until we can get this whole how-biology-works thing down, we still need NFP awareness week.

You probably don't know as much as you think

Even those confident in NFP have a story that goes something like this, “We were doing great, but then x happened, and EVERYTHING CHANGED!”

Maybe it was postpartum, maybe it was pre-menopause, maybe it was thyroid issues - whatever it was, you need at some point to find someone who knows what you’re talking about. Someone who has navigated these waters before. You still NFP awareness week.

Your experience might need broadening

When we don’t foster awareness of other’s experience, people...tend to be jerks.
Well meaning jerks, but still jerks.

You see this in the insistence that “everyone should use Creighton, then no one should have unclear charts!”
Or that Marquette is THE WAY postpartum.
Or that breastfeeding LAM will work for sure if you just follow each and every criteria for doing it RIGHT.

Don’t be a jerk, listen during NFP awareness week.

Don't underestimate the importance of hearing each other out

To get better NFP options we need better data. Listening to the experiences of real people is a fundamental first step.
This is not an exercise in navel-gazing. This is about hearing the stories that we don’t want to talk about.
Of people having the “I’m not the only one!” realization.
Of being not so isolated in a sea of sunshine and roses.

We need NFP awareness week.

There's more work to be done

Guess what? We don’t know everything there is to know about how fertility works. Our tools still have vast room for improvement.

When we started learning NFP 8ish years ago, there was no way to indicate progesterone outside of basal body temperature or expensive blood draws. Now there are progesterone dip strips.

Now there are wearable devices for measuring basal body temp without having to set an alarm.

But we still have so much work to do. The best way to get that done well is for real couples to ask for what they need. A major venue for that is NFP awareness week.

We can do better

The discussions of NFP, marketing, education, and assumptions all need a serious re-consideration.

When I ran the week of single women who chart, I heard stories that made me so angry. Stories of NFP teachers refusing to teach a single woman to chart because “you might misuse that information.”

Running this week of postpartum NFP I heard a lot of “abstinence isn’t THAT bad.” (Haha, yes I have something to say about that!)

We need NFP awareness week.

If those who practice NFP don't talk about NFP, and improve it, then who will?

In trying to address the reality of NFP, and the hardships involved, I got a lot of push back. It mostly boiled down to “don’t be so negative or people won’t even try to live out the teachings!”

(Though I have to point out the irony that I said this exact same thing, verbatim, in a pre-NFP week post and people STILL said it. Critical reading skills people, they’re not optional.)

But who else is supposed to bring these issues to light?
Those who don’t even know the difference between NFP and rhythm?
Those who have never experienced struggles in their NFP practice?

It HAS to be real. It HAS to be told. Because who else can speak to the negative but those living it?

We STILL need NFP awareness week.

Linking up with This Ain't the Lyceum for 7 Quick Takes.

Did you feel the NFP week burn out this year? Did you read any articles that made an impact on you or changed your thinking? (If so put the link below because I want to read them!)