Nagging doubts over the Pill

(Jan. 6, 2011) Although the mainstream media produced much ballyhoo about the birth control pill’s 50^th anniversary last year, there is still an undercurrent of discontent about the century’s most popular form of birth control.

New York Magazine recently carried an article by Vanessa Grigoriadi, “Waking Up From the Pill,” which reflected on the Pill and the feminist movement, but admitted that “for the wheatgrass-and-yoga generation, there’s something about taking a pill every day that’s insulting to one’s sense of self, as an accomplished, adult woman.”

She also notes that although the Pill didn’t create the field of infertility medicine, “it turned it into an enormous industry.” She said that a cult market has sprung up catering to women coming off the pill, and the most popular new method is Natural Family Planning (NFP), which she calls the Fertility Awareness Method.

This method is discussed in a popular 400-page book, Taking Charge of Your Fertility, which was written fifteen years ago by Toni Weschler, and is ranked higher by customers on Amazon than all other books except the third and fourth Harry Potters. It talks about cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and signs of the cervix, the three symptoms also taught by the Couple to Couple League.

In a related article, New York Times op-ed columnist Ross Douthat expressed discontent over the birth control pill and abortion, and tied them to the problem of infertility and adoption difficulties in “The Unborn Paradox.”

Natural Family Planning Classes Taught

Classes in Natural Family Planning are taught in 17 locations in the Chicago metro area, including southeast Wisconsin and northwest Indiana. The next series of classes will begin Friday, Feb. 4, at Holy Family Hospital, 100 North River Road, Des Plaines IL, taught by Matthew and Anne McClure, 630-843-1066.

Classes will also begin Sunday, Feb. 6th, 2011, at 1:30 pm, at Resurrection Medical Center, 7435 West Talcott Avenue, Chicago IL, taught by Dave and Mona Cattapan, 847-437-3136.

To register, and for a list of classes throughout the U.S., go to the CCL Central - Chicago-area classes (800) 745-8252. For information on the Chicago chapter of CCL, go to CCL of Chicago.

The method taught is the Sympto-Thermal Method, which is also taught via CylePRO software. Sign up for a membership with the Couple to Couple League International at www.ccli.org, and receive “Family Foundations.”