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Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you (Jer. 1:5)
Q1: Why does the Church accept Natural Family Planning (NFP)? Q2: What doe the Church say about Adoption? Q3: We have infertility issues, what can we do? Ask Your Own Question.
Q1: Why does the Church accept Natural Family Planning (NFP)? A: God designed the marital embrace to be physically and emotionally unifying for a married couple and also for it to be procreative for them. When a married couple practices NFP, they stay true to God’s will in his design of the marital embrace, which includes being open to children as a possible fruit of that embrace. Staying open to the will of God is spiritually healthy. Saying “No” to the will of God is spiritually unhealthy. Practicing NFP does not mean you leave the number of children in your family entirely to chance. NFP has different forms but essentially they work with a woman’s natural cycle of fertility and infertility. A couple decides which part of the cycle they will be together. If instead a couple uses birth control, they are saying we want the joy of the marital embrace but want to separate it from the procreation of children. In this situation a couple wants to work against God’s design. Even though a couple may still conceive while using birth control, their choice was already saying “No” to God’s will.
More Helpful resources: CCC 2366 - 2379 Marquette Model www.creightonmodel.com/ www.ccli.org/nfp
Q2: What doe the Church say about Adoption? A: Adoption is a beautiful choice. A married couple “can give expression to their generosity by adopting abandoned children”. CCC 237
Q3: We have infertility issues, what can we do? A: Science is opening many doors in this area. Church teaching affirms some of the science as worthy and says “Research aimed at reducing human sterility is to be encouraged,” CCC 2375. Scientific advances that can “repair” the infertility issues of a husband and/or wife so that they can conceive a child through the natural marital embrace are encouraged. The options provided by science which separate the conception of a child from the marital embrace are morally unacceptable. For a more in depth discussion on the moral issues of concern refer to CCC 2377.
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