Just last year, in 2017, Caitlin Kassebaum was newly engaged and preparing for marriage. Knowing NFP would be part of their relationship, her fiancé signed them up for an introductory class. He chose the Marquette Model because his interest in science drew him to the concrete data it provided to identify days of fertility. Caitlin, admittedly “pretty naïve,” quickly appreciated the confidence that came with having such objective measures to rely upon. She struggled with charting initially but found the help of Mary Lee Barron, a locally based Marquette / NFP expert. That relationship set her career and her life on a new and better path.
Coming out of graduate school, Caitlin was a nurse specializing in pediatrics. She loved her work but found merging health care with her faith “harder than I want[ed] it to be.” Mary Lee suggested she look into training as an NFP instructor. The more Caitlin considered the idea, the more she liked it. Since discovering NFP for herself, she had become passionate about teaching young people, especially teen girls, about its benefits. “It’s very empowering to know so much about your body,” she says. “Being able to approach your doctor with information is a huge part of NFP.” She admits that she received more in her introductory class than she ever had before, and that sharing even basic knowledge, “sowing seeds of God’s truth to others, even for just an hour,” is an important and meaningful ministry.
Now, as a new Marquette instructor, Caitlin has witnessed—and experienced as a newlywed—the spiritual benefits of NFP: “It’s more than a Catholic form of birth control. It’s a holistic approach [to] how best to use fertility in your life.” She encourages all women and couples to pray and reflect on why the Church proclaims NFP as the best way to live out the vocation of marriage. Unlike artificial methods, it doesn’t treat fertility as a disease but recognizes it as a gift. NFP is shown to foster and improve communication between spouses and strengthen relationships against divorce and morally questionable behaviors. Specifically, Caitlin appreciates that her husband respects her fertility enough to set aside his desires when they choose to abstain. By subduing the temptation to selfish pleasure, she knows that “I’m worth more than all that.”
Caitlin still holds an active nursing job in addition to her NFP work and enjoys sharing the ups and downs of the NFP journey with her friends. She offers three tips to those starting out:
- Be patient with yourself. Learning anything new takes time, and you won’t do something perfectly the first time. (Consider biking or driving.)
- Reach out to people who are more knowledgeable than you (teachers / experts). You don’t have to know everything.
- Once you get going, it’s very empowering. Trust God and the process, and remind yourself of NFP’s value.