ARTICLES

Marriage Conference to focus on infertility

By Misty Mealey
Special to The Catholic Virginian

It’s estimated that one in six couples will face infertility at some point in their lives.

Often those couples — even Catholic ones — so desperately desire a child they will avail themselves of any means of conception, including immoral treatments such as in vitro fertilization or artificial insemination, to start or grow their families.

But now, we can offer those suffering from infertility more than just our prayers. On Saturday, July 14, at the Catholic Marriage and Family Planning Conference in Richmond, Catholic obstetrician and gynecological surgeon Dr. Mark Stegman will share how a new women’s health science called Natural Procreative Technology (NaProTechnology) is a more effective, less expensive, and more morally dignified solution to infertility problems.

Dr. Stegman brings a unique perspective to the conference. In the early 1990s, after reading the Vatican encyclical Humanae Vitae (Human Life), he experienced a conversion and decided he could no longer prescribe or refer out for contraception or sterilizations. He left his practice and completed a fellowship in reproductive medicine, surgery, and natural family planning at the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Nebraska, under the direction of the Institute’s founder Dr. Thomas Hilgers.

Dr. Hilgers developed NaProTechnology after noticing that women who had certain symptoms shared similar patterns on their natural family planning charts. He realized the charts were an invaluable diagnostic tool. Using the information gleaned from the charts, Dr. Hilgers spent nearly three decades developing medical and surgical methods to address the underlying causes of reproductive and gynecological health problems.

His goal was to work with the natural processes of the woman’s body to restore them to their proper functioning. This focus on restoring a woman’s natural functioning has shown to be far more effective than high-tech and pill-based approaches to treating reproductive disorders, which either seek to bypass her problems or override her natural processes.

Often women come to NaProTechnology after unsuccessful attempts to treat disorders using more traditional methods. In 2005, I sought Dr. Stegman’s assistance to deal with debilitating endometriosis that left me bent over in severe pain for hours several times per cycle.

I never expected to travel to Pennsylvania for surgery, but after multiple visits to physicians in Roanoke, I was unwilling to accept that the only solution to my problem was the birth control pill or a hysterectomy. Using NaProTechnology surgical techniques, Dr. Stegman removed the source of my endometriosis and preserved my fertility. The pain that plagued me for nearly 20 years disappeared.

NaProTechnology also has been highly successful in treating a whole host of other disorders, including recurrent miscarriage, postpartum depression, irregular periods, premenstrual syndrome, ovarian cysts, and polycystic ovarian syndrome.

In the case of infertility, couples can go through painful, invasive, and exorbitantly expensive fertility treatments, and even if they are able to carry a child to term, they may never know what caused their problems in the first place. The next time they want to conceive, the nightmare begins all over again. But with NaProTechnology, the physician treats the underlying cause of infertility, which means that fertility is not only restored, but preserved for the future when the couple may want to conceive again.

“NaProTechnology is highly successful, and on top of that, it does this in a way that is completely consistent with the moral teachings of the Catholic Church,” according to Dr. Stegman.

In addition to giving the keynote address at the Catholic Marriage and Family Planning Conference on July 14, Dr. Stegman has offered to consult privately with couples who suffer from reproductive or gynecological disorders the evening of Friday, July 13. He will also offer an informational session for physicians interested in learning more about NaProTechnology from 1 to 3 p.m. on Saturday, July 14.

To register for the private consultation or physician session, contact me — Misty Mealey — at 540–525–1635 or misty@mealeys.org. To register for the conference, contact me or visit the diocesan natural family planning website at www.richmonddiocese.org/nfp.

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