FA in the Media (And the Return of an Errant Blogger)

Greetings, good people. It's been a long time! Graduate school was a fantastic experience, but as you know, I had to stop teaching FA, for the most part. I just didn't have the mental energy to spare. I'm happy to say that I am once again working with women (and sometimes their partners) to help them manage their fertility naturally. If you are interested in obtaining instruction, either for the first time or to extend your education, my brain is once again available, and I hope you will get in touch!

Graduate school was also not good for this blog. I was happy if I could shave my legs once a month, forget about whipping up a decent blog post. When I finally got my MSW (master of social work) in August of 2013,  I wasn't sure if I'd come back to the blog. Compared to other social media, blogs are pretty old school. All those words! I post on Facebook about 2x a month, and last month, even though I said I never would, I began tweeting (@fertaware) But people do still visit the blog, every day, and every once in a while my writing wants to stretch out a bit, which isn't really possible on Facebook or Twitter. So here we are, blogging again.

And what brings me back to you today? Zeitgeist. A change in the national conversation around contraception. Everyone, it seems, is talking about Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABM)! Fertility tracking app sales are through the roof. And we are finally getting some decent media exposure.

Let's start with the most recent: Lisa DeBode wrote an unusually well-researched piece about FABM  for Al Jazeera America. (And I got to say "labia" in international media.)
Birth Control Bitter Pill - Al Jazeera

About 6 months prior, a similar article regarding barriers to widespread use of FABM was published in the Atlantic. It contains a couple of inaccuracies, and fewer people are interviewed, but it does present a more sophisticated view than one usually finds. Note how both articles talk about unmet need, i.e. the desire on the part of women to learn these methods and the limitations to their being able to do so.
New Old School Birth Control Atlantic

And finally, a book. Have you read Sweetening the Pill? It came out in 2013, and it definitely set tongues-a-wagging. Now a movie is in the works (I'm in conversation with the producer) and even before the movie has been made, there is backlash & controversy. It's still considered anti-feminist to question the primacy, safety, and desirability of hormonal contraception. If you've ever been unhappy with hormonal contraception, but couldn't articulate why, or if you knew why, but couldn't get anyone to take you seriously, this is for you. Needless to say, it makes a strong case for FA.

It's great to be back, and I look forward to connecting with new readers and old ones, in this context and in others. FA is moving forward, and I'm thrilled to be part of the journey.

 

Meals, Snacks, and Obamacare

Hello everyone. I know, I've been a very irregular blogger of late. In the 5 years since I started this blog, a lifetime in internet time, blogging has become old school. It's too long-form. Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Pinterest - they're what's happening. The fewer words, the better. The blog still has its readers, of course. But the FB page is where the action is. Do I think this march toward brevity heralds the decline of literacy and civilization itself? Why yes, I do. Am I guilty of it as well? Absolutely. I post on FB far more often than I post here. Usually just a link with a sentence or two. Blogs are meals. And most people are snackers.

Get your Facebook snack on.

Meanwhile, for you gourmands, here's something more substantial:

The Affordable Health Care Act (aka "Obamacare") is slowly coming to fruition, with many benefits already in effect and others not yet realized. It's a very detailed Act and few people go beyond the sound bites to actually learn what's in it. Today, August 1, 2012, a raft of benefits for women and children came into effect. Two organizations have been doing a good job of getting the word out about specific benefits for women. 

-We Are Ultraviolet has created a lovely graphic (below) which hits the highlights. It's too large to read properly in this space, so click on this link to see the whole thing. Or, you can view it (and share it) on Facebook. Sigh.

-And the wonderful folks over at the National Women's Health Network have created a 

site (actually, a blog!) which has been providing detailed coverage with analysis called Countdown to Coverage, with one post per day in the week leading up to today's rollout. Their name for the Affordable Care Act is Mamacare :)

Do the new regulations provide for free Fertility Awareness instruction? No. The Act only provides  free contraception in the case of FDA approved devices. Now, if you're among the fraction of people who receive FA or NFP education in a medical setting, your healthcare provider can code your visit in such a way that it's covered. That's been the case for years. And as more women gain health insurance through the Affordable Care Act, more women will be able to take advantage of that coverage. But the majority of women who practice Fertility Awareness to avoid pregnancy will continue to gain their instruction privately. (Or, frighteningly, practice without benefit of instruction.) 

The Affordable Care Act will thus probably not result in much greater numbers of women practicing Fertility Awareness. But with mandatory coverage and the elimination of co-pays for things like Pap smears, gestational diabetes screening, breastfeeding equipment and lactation support, and screening for domestic violence as well as counseling, the Affordable Care Act reaches far beyond "free birth control," and will result in vast health benefits for women and their children, especially those who currently face financial barriers to service. And that's something we should all be able to get behind.

 

Ilene is on Hiatus!!!

As some of you know, I will be starting a full-time, two year master's degree program in September, in social work. And, just to make things more exciting, I'm also moving (both home and office, because I work at home). Therefore I am going on hiatus. Actually I am already on hiatus, at least as far as teaching is concerned. I have already begun to refer new clients to other teachers. I'm not sure how long the hiatus will last. I'm going to see how things unfold. 


I will continue to be involved in Fertility Awareness, but mostly in ways that won't be obvious to the general public. In addition to teaching, I do a lot of behind the scenes stuff having to do with Fertility Awareness as a profession. Although there are a few paths to professional certification, there are no national or international standards in place regarding qualifications to teach. Anyone can call herself a teacher (or sell fertility-management software). And of course practitioners in the field find little or no support from the medical community, and are often isolated in their own communities because qualified, secular (non-religious) instructors are so few and far between. Thus it can be difficult for them to find peer support and to grow as professionals.


I have been involved in the issue of professionalism in this field since I began teaching 10 years ago. I will be focusing on this work in the coming year, by expanding and strengthening our professional network, and by creating what I hope will be a widely recognized set of standards. I will also continue to coordinate professional forums through which people involved in the field communicate with and learn from each other. So, in the coming months I will be primarily involved in those activities. I will leave the teaching, at least temporarily, to others. 


One of the things I've been focusing my energies on this past year, as I prepared to make this transition, has been the training of new teachers. I've had the privilege of working with several young women who are well on their way to becoming qualified instructors, with a wide range of interests and areas of concentration. They will continue their training with Oregon instructor Sarah Bly, and I look forward to introducing you to them in the future as they embark on their teaching careers.


I have also been working with Sarah on another project which I think at this point is still a secret :) I will tell you all about it once it's ready to go public.


And actually I've been working on another project having to do with Fertility Awareness that is also not quite ready for launch; that's something else I hope to share with you in the near future. 


Ok, so maybe "hiatus" isn't the right word. I guess it's more like "scaling back." 


So, if you are reading this, and you are in need of instruction, what should you do? Here are my suggestions:


--If you want to obtain instruction in a secular context, the Justisse website lists many qualified FA teachers, including graduates and current students of their own teacher training program. Make sure to pay attention to the various designations. I would suggest sticking to FAE's and full (graduated) HRHP's. A lot of teachers can work by phone or by Skype these days, so don't worry if there is no teacher in your area (and there probably isn't).
Justisse directory of instructors


--Not on the list, but worth considering, are:


Katie Singer (author of Garden of Fertility)
New Mexico
(505)820-0773
You will need to have read one of her books if you want to make an appointment with her.

Sarah Bly
Oregon
www.graceofthemoon.com

--Please mention my name if you contact any of these instructors so they know where the referral came from.

--Of course if you're open to studying Natural Family Planning (NFP), as opposed to FAM, you'll have many more instructors available to you, including some from whom you might be able to learn in person (as opposed to long distance). NFP is in many ways the same as FAM, but is taught in a religious/moral context. Sexual activity outside of marriage (and certainly same sex activity) is considered unacceptable, as are all forms of "artificial" contraception and abortion. The main NFP organizations in the US are the Couple to Couple League and the Billings Ovulation Method Association. Their websites can direct you to local teachers. Be aware that NFP teachers often have fairly rudimentary training and may not be able to advise you with respect to complex or health-related issues.

I will miss teaching like crazy, but I am also very excited about all the new developments in my life. I plan to keep updating the blog and the Facebook page, though probably not as often as I do now. As always, I invite you to keep in touch with me. Having a baby? I would love to hear about it! Moving? Send me your new coordinates! My coordinates, by the way, will probably remain the same. The email address will definitely stay the same, and I think the phone number will, too. If not, I'll let you know. 


Enjoy the rest of the summer. 

The Happenings, the Non-Happenings, and the Future of Fertility Awareness

This post is late! Here's what's been happening, with backstory:

I am currently working with some wonderful, talented women who are on the path to becoming teachers of Fertility Awareness. I think an important part of the teacher-training process is being connected to, and learning from, other Fertility Awareness educators. So when my Israeli colleague Michal Schonbrun told me that she would be coming to NY for a couple of days in May, I asked her if she'd be willing to spend a few hours working with my students. She readily agreed, and somehow that idea grew into a two day event. One day was for teacher training, just for my students: Michal in the morning, and me in the afternoon. We also decided to create a public event. That event was to have centered around an introduction to Fertility Awareness (my presentation), and also was to have included presentations by two artists who do incredible work related to fertility and sexuality. The artists are Alexandra Jacoby, whose work I've mentioned & written about before, and Rebecca Morton (whose website is nearly complete, I'm happy to say).

So we poured a lot of time and energy into creating both these events, and my last blog post was to have been in late April, promoting the public one. But about a week beforehand, we decided to cancel the public event, due to poor ticket sales. We were all very disappointed, of course, but there came a point where we had to make a tough decision, and that's the one we made. I see again and again how people who know about Fertility Awareness tend to be quite passionate about it, but people who don't know about it tend to be indifferent. FA is a hard concept to get your mind around, since we're not used to thinking about fertility management, or body literacy. We think about birth control, until and unless we're ready to get pregnant. Then we think about pregnancy achievement. And we hardly ever think about empowerment around our sexuality or reproductive health care, unless something goes wrong. In short,  we don't have a holistic approach to our bodies in general, and much less so when it comes to our fertility and sexuality. So, Fertility Awareness, which offers a comprehensive approach to fertility, sexuality, and reproductive health care, is off the radar for most of us. It just doesn't fit neatly into the boxes we're used to ticking off.

So we cancelled the public program, but proceeded with the teacher training day. And that was a big success! I look forward to introducing you to each of these women as they get closer to actually teaching. There are so few qualified, secular teachers of Fertility Awareness in the US. My colleagues and I are actively working to make sure that there are new, younger teachers to carry on this work in the future. It may never be "popular," but it's life-changing stuff, and we want to ensure that personalized, non-religious instruction will always be available to those who need it. Charting on your iPhone is convenient, of course, and I think keeping track of your data electronically is a great idea, especially as our devices become more entwined with our lives. But electronic charting will never eliminate the need for personal instruction. When your smartphone can discuss with you the relative benefits of progesterone supplementation vs. Traditional Chinese Medicine for luteal phase defect, or how to assess if you can have unprotected intercourse up to day 3, day 5, or using the formula S-21, or helps you negotiate when to start trying for pregnancy when your partner is on the fence, or does any of the myriad other things that only a human teacher can do for you, you let me know, and I will take a nice long holiday.

By the way, in anticipation of the public event, I finally got the Facebook page for the Fertility Awareness Center up and running. It's been pretty active thus far. In fact, I think eventually it might supercede this blog. So if you're on Facebook, please "like" us. You'll be rewarded with more frequent postings, news of events, links to like-minded orgs, and photos. And of course you'll be part of a community of other FA devotees.

Yet Another Disappointing Media Experience

FAM just cannot get a media break. About 6 weeks ago, I posted a call for interviewees for an article being written for New York Magazine. I had been interviewed and had spent a fair amount of time talking to and emailing the author (who was gracious and professional with me - no complaints there). Alas, the article came out, and I found it be tremendously disappointing, particularly in light of the fact that it was a very long article, the cover story of New York Magazine, which could have had some impact, had it been focused differently. If you missed the article, you can read it here:
http://nymag.com/news/features/69789/ 


The article does present a reasonably accurate description of how Fertility Awareness works. So what's my problem? 
-The premise is thin and faintly ridiculous, not to mention alarmist: that the Pill "creates" a type of infertility, by causing women to postpone having children, as if women are unaware that having children at an older age is more difficult.
-It completely trivializes the health risks and side effects of hormonal contraception. (It's as safe as taking a vitamin!)
-The author refers to Fertility Awareness as a more sophisticated version of the Rhythm Method. Which is sort of like saying that a car is a more sophisticated version of a bicycle. 
-The contextualization of Fertility Awareness is completely off-base. The article doesn't discuss FA for contraception, and only a bit as a tool for health, but primarily as the largest factor in a "cult market" [which] has cropped up catering to women in the process of rediscovering their bodies when they go off the Pill." 
-One final choice quote: "You're not going to find anyone, male or female, who isn't a little grossed out by the words egg-white cervical fluid, but it's just basic biology." 


Women, are you "grossed out" by the normal, healthy functioning of your body? Does talking about the evidence of your juicy fertility, which may be accompanied by feelings of sexiness, not to mention a little awe at the power you hold within you, disgust you? If you have a male partner, does he run and hide if you tell him about the clear, slippery fluid at your labia? I didn't think so. 

Are You Using FAM To Try To Conceive?

A reporter from New York Magazine is seeking interview subjects for an upcoming article. She would like to speak with women who are using Fertility Awareness to achieve pregnancy. Your comments can be anonymous, if you prefer. Click on her name to send her an email:

Vanessa Grigoriadis

I will let you know when the article eventually appears, and of course what I think of it!

Getting Started with Fertility Awareness - East Coast & West Coast Events

I'm happy to share with you two upcoming events that are for people who are not already practicing Fertility Awareness. One of the events, in NYC, is an introduction (vs. a complete workshop), so that people can learn more about Fertility Awareness and decide if it is something that they would like to pursue in more depth. The other event, in San Francisco, is a complete workshop. If you have friends or family members who have expressed interest in Fertility Awareness, these events are great opportunities to get them started.

New York City:
The Traditional Nutrition Guild Parents' Group presents "Fertility Awareness for Natural Birth Control: An Introduction and Panel Discussion." Of course the discussion will touch on all aspects of Fertility Awareness, not just birth control. Attendees should be aware that the presenting organization is affiliated with the Weston A. Price Foundation, which strongly supports Fertility Awareness, but which is a separate practice. Discounted copies of The Garden Of Fertility will be available for purchase. Please try to purchase tickets in advance!
9/26/10, Kula Yoga (28 Warren Street, 4th floor), Tribeca Parenting (46 Warren Street),
2:00PM -5:00PM, $30-$60 ticket range.
Tickets and full information, including contact info, here:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/126204


San Francisco:
My West Coast colleague Sarah Bly is planning to teach a workshop in SF, with the help of local organizer Vanessa Alabarces. The 6 hour workshop will provide all the basic instruction necessary to get started with practicing Fertility Awareness. A followup session, which is critical for effective practice of the method, is included in the cost of instruction. 
10/23 & 10/24, 9AM to 1PM
Individual $110, Couple $130
For more info & to sign up:
www.graceofthemoon.com
sarah@graceofthemoon.com
541.821.2522 (Sarah, PST)
415.483.6202 (Vanessa, PST)


I'm always thrilled to get feedback about these events, so please let me know if you or a friend attends one.

My Talk at American College of Nurse Midwives Annual Meeting

I'm recently back from a few humid days in DC, where I gave a presentation at the 55th American College of Nurse Midwives Annual Meeting. It was a very impressive gathering. About 1500 were expected to attend. There were 5 days packed with talks, workshops, exhibitions, lobbying, parties, etc. I was pleased to see that there was a special focus on international midwifery, and the role that midwives can play in improving maternal health in the developing world.

On Tuesday, 6/15, I gave a one hour educational presentation entitled "Introduction to Fertility Awareness: How a Proven Method of Natural Fertility Management Works and How it Can Benefit Your Patients." I didn't think many people would attend, because my session took place during Lobby Day, when the midwives took to Capitol Hill to meet with legislators about issues relating to the practice of midwifery both here and abroad. However, I was pleasantly surprised as the room became completely full, with about 100 people in attendance. This was the largest audience I've ever addressed, and my nervousness was increased by the fact that they were all midwives, and that I might not be telling them anything they didn't already know. But what I found was that, although almost all of them had some familiarity with Fertility Awareness, only one of them was actually teaching it, and most were only really familiar with FA for pregnancy achievement. They were very interested in the presentation and had a lot of practical questions at the end.

There was only one other presentation related to natural fertility management, and it was on The Creighton Method a.k.a. NaProTechnology, which is a type of Natural Family Planning (NFP). As you probably know, NFP has religious underpinnings. The presenters completely de-emphasized this, and spoke mostly in medical terms. It was there if you were looking for it, but I have a feeling that most in the audience really didn't understand the distinction (unless they had been at my talk the day before). Their stats on resolution of fertility issues were compelling, but they spoke only in positive terms and did not mention a single drawback to their methodology, or a reason why a woman or a couple might not want to use it. It seemed more like a sales pitch than a medical presentation. In my presentation I spoke specifically of the pros and cons that a woman contemplating Fertility Awareness should consider. No method is right for everyone, and good reproductive health care always seeks to expand the range of choices available to women, not dictate to them what they should or should not be doing.

Nada. Zip. Zero.

That's how much time "Need to Know" spent on Fertility Awareness in their premiere (see post directly below). Terrific. The media blackout continues. Happy 50th birthday, birth control pill.

They're Actually Going to Be Talking About Fertility Awareness on TV

It's a very, very rare day when Fertility Awareness is discussed on national television. The last instance I can think of was in 2002, when Toni Weschler was on "The Today Show." But on Friday, May 7th, viewers will (I believe) be treated to a discussion of Fertility Awareness running approximately 8 minutes. It will take place during the premiere of a PBS show called "Need To Know." The subject of the show (or at least a chunk of it) will be the 50th anniversary of the birth control pill.

A while back I was contacted by a producer for the show who was looking for footage, and people to interview. I hooked her up with an interviewee, who as far as I know will be on the show, but alas they apparently decided not to use footage of me teaching. Oh well. I'm still extremely interested to see what they are going to say, not just about FA but about the history & consequences of the Pill.

The debut of "Need to Know" will doubtless be watched by a huge audience, as it is replacing the extremely popular, long-running "Bill Moyers Journal," and there are concerns that PBS is going soft, and less controversial, with the new show (and with the cancellation of "Now," which followed the "Journal"). There's been a fair amount of media buzz about the format and the choice of Jon Meacham as one of the hosts. So FA stands to get some major exposure with this broadcast. I only hope that the treatment is well-informed. It seems like every piece about FA contains gross inaccuracies or conflates FA with Natural Family Planning, which is typically steeped in Catholic values and should not be confused with secular Fertility Awareness. My sense from the producer was that she had a pretty good understanding of FA, and planned positive coverage, but often the best intentions are undercut (literally) by ignorant editing. Stay tuned.

You can see "Need to Know" on Friday, May 7th, at 8:30PM EST (check local PBS listings if you're not in NY area). The good news for people like me who don't have television is that it will also be available all week, after airing, on their website:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/need-to-know/

If you watch the show, I hope you'll post your thoughts here.

Why We Still Have a Long Way to Go

It's been over 40 years since Natural Family Planning, the predecessor of Fertility Awareness, was pioneered. FA & NFP are now codified, and have been repeatedly proven to be safe and effective methods of fertility management. They are empowering, safe, inexpensive, reversible, environmentally friendly, and vegan. They do not diminish sexual pleasure, and provide added benefits such as shortening the time to a desired pregnancy and being safe to use for contraceptive purposes while breastfeeding. They are also acceptable by people with a wide range of moral and religious belief systems. So why the hell are they such a big secret?? Why aren't we being taught this stuff in schools? Why are there so few teachers of FA in this country? Why don't our gyns tell us about it? Why don't you see ads on it for TV along with all those stupid ads for various kinds of Pills? (See 2/22 post for an article on Yaz and their less-than-truthful ads.) I'll tell you why. Yes, there is the profit factor. Yes, there is the squeamish factor. But mostly, there is the ignorance factor. When even a well-known reproductive rights activist/author like Cristina Page does not understand what Fertility Awareness is or why women might want to practice it, you know that we have a long way to go:

Bizarre and ill-informed blog post re Georgetown grant

FAC in the Media

For some unknown reason, we’ve been getting a lot of media attention of late. I was interviewed twice for an article that will appear sometime later this year in a national magazine, and I also participated in a documentary on the topic of sex education in America. I’ve no idea when that film will be coming out, or if I’ll be included, but the filmmakers did film one of my classes, and they seemed pretty enthused. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, you can check out a couple of articles that have appeared in regional papers. This first piece was published in The Radish, a Midwestern magazine focusing on healthy living:
http://radishmagazine.com/stories/display.cgi?prcss=display&id=356095

And another piece ran in two Vermont papers, The Times Argus and the Rutland Herald. It’s the same piece, picked up from a news service, so no need to read both:
http://tinyurlw.com/2xvydw
http://tinyurl.com/ytvofb