SPEAKER_02 0:25

Can we get the I think that's the one that we're going to do?

SPEAKER_04 4:56

And today we're going to be hearing about Gerard's story, his journey into this pro life space. Gerard, would you tell us a little bit about your backstory and what brought you into this space?

SPEAKER_00 5:10

Sure. Thank you. Thank you for having me, Jacob. Great to meet you. And Suzanne, great to see you. So I'm going to start with addressing the elephant in the room, which I hear a lot, is why is a man in charge of natural womanhood? And to make a long story short, my wife and I discovered natural family planning late in our marriage, actually in 2007. And at that time I thought the world needed to know about it. Now through this work, I realized it's much more than an issue of family planning, and I'll I'll get to that because natural womanhood's vocation is much larger than this area. But to give you a little more background about myself, I grew up in France in a Catholic family and on a small dairy farm in the eastern part of France. And in my teenagers, I left the church. Left the church, lived uh lived my life like uh, you know, uh not basically essentially an agnostic, and uh and then I met my wife, who is from Illinois, and uh as we were both teaching in China, we got married in France, we uh returned to the US in 1994 after our two children were born, and then uh lived in Atlanta and then moved to Texas. But it's in in Georgia that I I had a conversion moment for a while, joined the uh different joined the Protestant Church. I was uh in the Protestant church for for a number of years. My wife grew up Baptist actually, uh and and is still uh you know Christian, non-Catholic Christian. And uh, but in 2007 is when I reverted to the Catholic faith, and uh and that's where I had this made this discovery of of natural family planning. So um this uh was really quite uh a moment for us. Um it was late in our marriage, so it was not like it's really something that uh you know had had a huge impact in terms of of the way we we saw our family planning. We were we tried at that time we said, oh yeah, we maybe we can have more children, uh, but it didn't happen. But it I realized that this was a very well-kept secret that could have had impacted our marriage a lot earlier, and and I realized that so many young families need to have this information and this support. Now, I mentioned earlier that um this was more than family planning, and uh I'm gonna speak to the big elephant in the room because I know uh not all the pro-life uh leaders are Catholic, and and it's not about theology, but what I realize we realize is that the issue of pro-life, we're while natural womanhood doesn't speak really about abortion uh very much or issues of of um you know legal and advocacy and and um we uh we are a very pro-life organization. What we see, and this is a very powerful study that was published in the Linaker Quarterly, which is the the uh peer-reviewed journal of the Catholic Medical Association in 2018, they published a study that explained that uh teen girls who are on contraception compared to those who are not, are three times more likely to have an STD, three times more likely to uh be engaged, you know, sexual have sexual relationships outside marriage, and ten times more likely to have an abortion. And that's based on the National Survey of Family Growth, which is uh this you know one of the most uh robust uh studies that exist in this area about you know sexual uh you know lifestyle and and activities in in the US. So these are numbers are big, and they're they're they contradict the idea, they contradict the idea that um you know if if young women are on the pill, they're they're gonna you know gonna uh spare them from abortion. So so this is not a we're you know, I'm not not talking about theology. Our approach as natural womanhood uh from the beginning has been like we need to address the science. We need to accompany and help young women and women couples to learn about this area. So I'm gonna stop here. There's so much more I I could speak about. I wanna, but I hope we can talk about a little bit about what's happening with marriages, what's happening with IVF issues, uh what's happening with young women. Uh we're doing a lot of work. So I'll stop here.

SPEAKER_04 9:58

Yeah, Suzanne, do you have a follow-up question? If not, I've got one prepared.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Go ahead, Jacob, please.

SPEAKER_04 10:04

Oh, sure. So the the primary audience of this podcast would be pregnancy clinic leaders. Yes. Um and I would say about one-third of the pregnancy clinics are Catholic, one-third are evangelical, and the rest are both, like a hybrid of half Catholic, half evangelical. Um how do you and it seems like the need is for people to be aware, aware, awareness of natural family planning, and then also having like a practicality of how to well learning how to do natural family planning. How do you see pricey clinics um using this education with their clients, both women and couples? How do you see that you know really being best um provided to their clients?

SPEAKER_00 10:54

So to be honest, like this is not an expertise we have at Natural Womanhood because we've worked, we've worked more so that let me just go back a little bit. The the two areas we've worked on so far uh proactively is first is created an online magazine. So we have a website with over 1,100 articles, uh ranging from body literacy, so teaching young women about their bodies, the science of their bodies, the what's uh you know, health, lifestyle, and so on, to family planning, natural family planning methods, options, to the dangers of contraception, which is a huge factor to speak about, to speak to uh on uh to young women in crisis presumacy centers. So we have the largest library of articles with science-based, again, evidence-based uh studies that show the various risks of you know whether it's a copper IUD that's supposed to be natural to depoporera, to pill, all those documented uh risk factors that uh the world needs to know about it. And so that was you know still a very big part of our work. We have also a whole area speaking about issues of reproductive health that are not addressed necessarily uh very well from by doctors uh in the general you know, the general medical area, but that are uh can be addressed uh by doctors who are specialized in organ in uh methods like macrotechnology or femme or neofertility to restore the woman's body. So dealing with infertility, for example, uh you know, uh avoiding IVF, and I have stories about that, that's very powerful. And then finally, speaking about uh uh pregnancy uh delivery and postpartum uh options again, educating women. So this is our magazine. We had about a million uh unique readers last year, we're in English and Spanish. So this is a resource that we want to make sure that all crisis pregnancy centers know about because that's an information source that can pass around on. And we see that uh that's one of the big things. All our articles are not religious, again, and so they're they have stories that can inspire and help young women, for example, just to simply get off contraception because it's so dangerous, right? Uh or has so many side effects. Um so it's naturalwomanhood.org. Now the second big area we we have is education of young women. So we have two programs for that. One is called Period Genius to help parents teach their daughters about the science and beautiful uh process of the uh you know female body, uh again in a in a scientific way, but also in a way that's positive, that emp empowers young women to think that my body is good and has a purpose. It's not just you know here you know bleeding and pain and and and so on. So that's uh the online program.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Yes, yes, and you repeat the name of that online program.

SPEAKER_00 13:59

Yes, it's called Period Genius. So if you google period genius or do period genius.com, uh you'll be able to find that program. Thank you. It's a it's a series of 10 videos uh that are very uh family friendly, user-friendly. We have uh you know guides as well, so parents can can a mom doesn't have to be informed, equipped to do that, to and like like knowledgeable about the science, because that's a big roadblock. The roadblock that we see is moms have never been taught this very well. And uh and so it's very scary, it's nerve-wracking, they're you know, they're they're embarrassed. So, what we recommend is that watch it for yourself because first, as a mom, you're gonna learn so much. And we have moms that say, you know, oh, this really healed me, this empowered me to know this level of information about my bodies and why I feel certain certain ways at certain times, you know, how to take better care of myself and so on. But it's also for their daughters and allows communication between mom and daughters in this area, which is critical. I mean, like you're talking about a pro-life movement, get moms and daughters to speak about these personal things where mom has a positive view of their of our bodies and a positive and confidence about you know that she doesn't need the pill and that that you know her body is good and and and there's a purpose for it, and pass that on to her daughter. This is to me the the change of heart that the pro-life movement needs, right? So teach the moms first on that and then and then the daughter. And and and crisis pregnancy centers can use this. We also uh have actually we piloted a program where we license it to the crisis pregnancy centers. Uh we have one one uh center uh use it so far. But it's I think we're we're uh re-engineering that a little bit, uh, and we're gonna relaunch that in in the fall. But it's it's it's a very, you know, that's one way I think we we can help crisis pregnancy centers so they can do outreach to their community with this information through a workshop, through maybe online classes, or just promoting it to their mom. Um the second program to teach girls uh about their cycles is uh called Cycle Mindfulness Club. So this is addressing an older audience. So those are young women who are in college typically, or maybe a little older. Uh and the the the concept is it's a peer-led support group to help young women learn about the science and health of their cycles, again in a positive way, in a scientific way, but positive, uh in the context of a support group by learning to track their to chart their cycle, which is a big aha moment for them. So this is a life-changing uh uh uh endeavor or uh uh activity because they get to know personally what's going on with their bodies, and especially in this very personal area, why they're what is happening with their fertility and their cycle. Right? So it's not just mystery anymore, as and it's still always a level of mysteries because it's such an amazing area, but but it's not the so much of a mystery to where they they regain some control. So one one study we we did with an ongoing study, we've been working with college students for the past four years, and and it what the data has shown us is that 70 to 80 percent of these young women when they start the club are not at peace and don't feel in control about their cycle. So they're not at peace with their cycle, which is a big deal, right? It's like they have a distorted relationship with their with their own bodies, which has it's and and we can talk more about that, has a huge impact on pro life. So so those are a couple of things that we're doing that we now uh can work a little bit more with uh with Crisis Pregnancy Center. We had actually last year we had uh uh one of our club members was uh a team member of a club of a uh PRC. And uh and so this is uh something that we're exploring as well. Most of our club leaders have been uh college students, uh you know, junior or senior college students that we train. So uh just a couple of things. Uh I wanted to give also there's another organization that is more specialized in the same field. Uh and and and the the founder worked for us uh last year to help do some counseling, consulting for for us. Uh it's and you might know you if not, you should interview her as well. It's Katie Lidmar, and her organization is Elevate. Uh specialized in doing you know, teaching uh fruitfully or whatever, or helping Crisis Pregnancy Center or PRCs adopt this program and engage with uh, you know, create she has a very specific program for uh pregnancy centers. So I just want to mention her as well. Uhlevate. I think it's elevate.com. Anyway.

SPEAKER_04 19:05

Awesome. So so Gerard, I got I've got a question for you. Um how did God draw you into this work? And where have you seen his fingerprints or you know, where where has he showed up as you have um been working in this direction?

SPEAKER_00 19:21

Yeah. Uh so uh I mean the the fact that I'm here today, even alive today, is uh is a god thing given uh my my past and uh uh yeah, I mean just a conversion is the first place, right? So so God speaking to me at a time of distress uh in in my life, in my family, uh and and just creating a turnaround. So the first turnaround was uh when I convert, you know, came back to church and started going to uh uh a Sunday school in uh in a Baptist church. Completely miracle given that my my culture as a Frenchman. Uh you yes, uh it's it was just uh amazing. Uh so that was really the the the beginning, uh you know, followed by 10 years of of changing kind of my vision and start working in nonprofit, in education, work that was involved in a in a Christian school for the for a long time, and then another shift that's the entry of the Catholic Church. And it's interesting because and then you know I our brothers and sister Christians are are uh so strong and I have you know a lot of understanding and respect for their faith and and and their values, but for some reason I I really did not feel or are have uh an exposure to the question of pro-life and abortion until I became I came back to the Catholic Church. Now the way it happened is it's very funny. I was driving, I got converted, I mean I had to return to the Catholic Church, it was about Christmas, we just moved to San Antonio, and I was like, okay, it's about Christmas. I would like to do during this Christmas break some volunteering with our kids. And so I turn on Catholic radio and my car, I can still see myself, and I hear this pitch for uh from a uh uh local uh PRC, the leader, uh, saying, We're looking for volunteers this Christmas, during this Christmas time. Would you you know just call Terry? So I I called, and here we are in the crisis printing center, our kids are folding clothes, uh, and it happens that you know we're we're and you know we have a very quick training. Terry she just and and then there there comes a client. And so my wife and I guide that client, and I've never remember, I'll never forget, she she had been raped. I'm gonna get emotional here and and uh and she was coming you know thinking oh this you know i'm gonna i'm gonna get help with this and you know and thinking yeah if she wanted an abortion and and and she changed her mind through you know the process and and then terry coming you know we called terry just like hey would you talk to her and stuff and uh it was just powerful right uh so so for five years I was involved in in the in the pro-life work in in in more of a board capacity and and and volunteer but but that was kind of the you know one step but that that was also the year we discovered natural family planning and then Christopher West came to San Antonio to speak about TOB and I was like wow this is just as incredible right um so I think there is a there you know God was really planting seeds um in in in getting me um on board and and you know through friends so there the other thing I I want to say is that um I've in my revert reverting to the Catholic faith I've really discovered the power of prayer and so this is I have I've learned a very strong discipline of prayer and that has been such a powerful way to to deal with crisis deal with challenges I mean starting a nonprofit was cr from scratch is is huge and and uh and yeah I I don't think I I mean I know I could not have done it with his health so um we incorporated in 2012 so five years after we moved to San Antonio we've been uh we've been growing ever since I I was on uh doing it on the side uh until COVID happened and I after covet in 2021 I I became employee and and full-time and so it's uh it's been growing ever since so god is god is good all the time right all the time awesome what's the name of the pregnancy clinic um in Austin no I was in San Antonio San Antonio San Antonio that's right yeah I like I like Women's Center okay yes I like awesome yeah great great question yeah Suzanne what question do you have as a follow-up oh yes absolutely well I just want to thank you again Gerard for sharing that story and it really helps me uh you know get a sense of where you're coming from and it's it's beautiful I um I want to echo something that uh you mentioned about why are men interested in this topic and I want to ask another question why do we all have gray hair no hair why hasn't this changed why aren't we moving forward it takes so long and I I agree prayer is essential but sometimes I just get so impatient you know I want it yesterday yes here's here's the hope okay I am hey I'm the oldest and I'm the only guy in in natural womanhood right just just so that is uh and and what's beautiful so though I mentioned the work of the club so we have we have 28 clubs this year we started with four years ago with three clubs as a pilot right and uh we've been growing ever since our our goal is to have 45 clubs uh to train 45 leaders actually in June so if you know anyone who's interested uh it's you know go on our website uh and search psycholmindfulness club or you go under get involved uh it's under netwomanhood.org and you can put that in the notes but it's psycho mindfulness clubs uh but what I see is is that this huge transformation I I mentioned how you know this young woman have when they come in they have you know almost 80% have no confidence and now when they leave it's the the reverse 80% are very confident or confident or very confident about their fertility and their cycle uh they this they share how they uh you know they they give themselves more grace they understand what's going on in their bodies at different times of the cycle they know what's normal what's not normal how to get involved what where to go to find the good help for it uh they are you know empowered and confident as a woman I mean we've had that where they go from I hate my body to I finally understand what it means to be a woman yes and so it's a much more than a healthcare issue and and the way it plays out in in a pro-life I've I've learned from there's a V Vita Institute I know if you you're probably familiar with the Vita Institute they do a lot of research on pro-life and they did this wonderful research about understanding the deeper motivation of young women you know that why do they want an abortion and the deeper motivation motivation is is they're not it's not economy very much I mean that's yeah it's not like oh I can't afford it it's like this is an interruption of my life and I don't see myself as a woman I don't see so so don't talk to me about diaper don't talk to me about it's more about like I want to continue my life like it was because I don't this is my I've been formed already that to be on a pill to be on you know to control my life externally yes and not see the very deep meaning about internally that what what's going on with my body and what's uh and so so to keep control I'm gonna go from the pill that didn't work to uh an abortion right and so that is that is the the process which is the process the the business plan for natural for plant parenthood by the way that is a process that needs to be changed and to change that it is critical that these young women understand are educated in their in their bodies so we need to equip moms we need to equip young young adults to to have that better understanding uh susan you are involved with teen star right you understand that as well right the wonderful beautiful work of teen star that's been doing that with schools all over the world um it's it's it's critical and I think this is the moment where like now it's very hard like you mentioned Jacob you're trying to to help with the the abortion pill it's very hard to to cow like wow where is this going? Yeah um it's it's a good moment because it's also an evangelical evangelization really more an evangelization moment where now instead of pushing something we are accompanying not that we don't need crisis pregnancy centers anymore we still do this they're wonderful organizations that do a lot of accompaniment and have this I mean I've experienced it I know how powerful and beautiful it is um but but we also need to go to the next step which is he bringing that knowledge and that empowerment to young women.

SPEAKER_01 28:55

Yes and you mentioned education I can I forgot what the question was well you mentioned education earlier and I I think that is so so key obviously that was part of the background that you had to bring to this uh natural womanhood project I guess what I'm interested in is whether you've noticed or if you know of anyone who's doing research on women who are familiar with their fertility and whether or not they're less likely you know to get an STD to to have sex outside marriage to seek an abortion I I really am interested to know if people are actually doing research on the benefits if they're there.

SPEAKER_00 29:35

Yeah that's a great question. I mean you know what the the research I we we've quoted in the past is teen star research right it's the the work that they did in Chile with high school students right to show that the high school students who were even sexually active before like stopped and from the program of education which was which again it's not it's not just okay the the basic of the body it's it's charting right so getting a young woman to understand personal at a personal level what's how what's happening with our body and so um that is the the best data we have I uh I you know other other than that we know uh very little really uh in term of I mean we my hope is we have data from again the the pro our program right which is uh surveys and and my hope is that as we expand we're able to part partner with uh universities to get this more you know some scientific uh support for showing that that impact it's an area for research for sure and and speaking of statistics I remember when we um first introduced the ultrasound to crisis pregnancy centers and there was a huge increase in the number of babies saved as I recall there were figures as high as 80% and and you mentioned that you know women didn't don't see themselves as a mother you know they they're pregnant but they just don't see themselves and that showed them they got the picture literally in figure um and here's the way I would describe it you know I being a nurse and having worked uh at a pregnancy center that showed them their anatomy but as an educator we know that anatomy is only half the picture the other part is the physiology how does this anatomy work and to me that's what the fertility awareness teaches women so they don't come in and see oh I'm a mother what they realize way ahead of time is I can choose that I can choose that when it works best for me. Yes yes yeah it's a it's a usual learning I mean the it's interesting I hear a lot is is you know women who are like big a moment and and then they're kind of angry because like why didn't you somebody tell me before right yeah it's such a it's such a gift um and and instead they've been fed on the pill often for 10 years right they had endometriosis they had PCOS again another area and and that's an area that you know organizations like Guiding Star and and the Gina centers and all that that you're creating clinics that are more more uh you know global like not just treating the pregnancy but also helping with women's health in a way that's restorative so the entire you know so that I think helps it's a it's complicated it's more complicated it's more uh and and you know investment but I also I think it's another big part of the future of the movement in terms of empowering and and healing the the culture. And it lines up with what's happening in healthcare across the the board which is focused you know on more holistic care emphasis on preventative medicine as opposed to let's fix it after it's broken you know Medicare funds preventative wellness visits for all the seniors and I'm thinking too little too late we need to get to get into this would be part of something that young people would definitely benefit from we had a beautiful story on our podcast on our website uh that that's uh the the last article that that we published yesterday is it's a you know a young woman who uh learned actually she she knew about you know she learned creighton and she got married and you know everything's great you know okay we're not getting pregnant right away and stuff but you know then we're not getting pregnant now okay we're not and so she she started worrying and you know it only took her six months to get help to get yes you know okay so let's let's look at that and and she got support for it and she you know had under a better understanding of what the she had a uh an imbalance on progesterone and so so that got help and she got you know got pregnant you know that's a that's a huge difference from what happens typically which is I keep trying for a year and then a year there's you know well very likely uh you know some some talk about ART or or IBF yes and and and then the whole cycle and and it's it's such more life giving when you the the approach that we're promoting at natural womanhood is you know let's uh help the body let's r restore the mom's health yes is yes we want healthy mom to have a healthier baby in fact you the the data shows that you know the baby is born by through IVF and it's not condemnation of anyone who's done it you know a baby is a it's a gift and it's uh I know the moms who who need that or who thought that uh really had uh you know good reason for it but it's it's the that there are much higher risk of premature babies uh and and and issues health issues and for the moms uh because it's not a natural restoration of the body it's a bypassing the uh the natural functioning so the approach we promote which is called restorative reproductive medical uh protocols uh again naprotechnology or neofertility uh are the the first concept is understanding what is behind the lack of fertility whether it's a male fertility or female fertility and then bringing uh you know treatments whether it's sometimes it's it's uh hormone treatment sometimes it's uh surgery because it's endometriosis or PCOS uh but those are are the you know the the different approach and and it it works it's very it doesn't it's not 100% like nothing's 100% right it's very effective and we can claim as effective as as the uh IVF at least and I heard from some IVF physicians who have left that practice that we don't bypass the body if there's like for example if we have heart problems we don't bypass the heart we try to fix the heart as opposed to IVF which completely bypasses the normal again anatomy and physiology I had a question for you as well about um you had said that some of the uh CPCs or crisis pregnancy centers are utilizing your period genius video yeah and I I've heard of this thing called um learn to earn where the parents or the the clients are asked to take classes in you know uh fertility or uh family life that kind of thing sexuality and then they earn like coupons to spend on materials for their baby and I'm wondering how you'd feel about maybe uh suggesting that this class period genius be added to one of those classes that the the clients can take that would be wonderful I I'm not familiar with the problem I know that in in Texas for instance there are uh grants and and and uh the the state helps pregnancy centers to uh educate uh moms and uh and parents in general and that there are there are some some subdued for that or some grants uh no I I was not familiar with the learn to earn but for for sure yeah that would be would you know be happy to to provide the the the program for for that purpose and and help uh seems like a good fit seems like a good fit yeah so the the earn while you learn program is it it used it started a long time ago um I think it started in the 80s I would I I suppose because it used to be on VHS tapes.

SPEAKER_04 37:56

And today it's run through um well it's been run through the same group the whole time called Heritage House. Okay. And now it's called um uh Bright Course where people rotate the classes and and they can even get you know the clients can get a text with a link to the video and then going through the video they then we have to answer the quiz.

SPEAKER_03 38:18

Yep.

SPEAKER_04 38:18

And there's usually a series and the whole point is for them to get education and and then in response they get the um the coupons to spend in the store to buy baby goods um and items and clothing for their for their baby. Yep. And so essentially they're they're earning why they're they're earning while learning. Does Heritage House produce all the courses or do they source out other they they both so they they work with a wide range of um experts to create content. Actually they shoot a lot of the videos in Snowflake Arizona but then you can shoot a video anywhere as well and then provide work with them on work with Pam Stenzel at Heritage House to to uh get it into their library and then you would actually get um compensated based on views. So it's it's good to have a a video that people enjoy and then want to watch and share and and for clinic directors to want to you know or the clinic teams to send to their clients to to get use because based on the the volume of traffic that's how they compensate the different um contributors.

SPEAKER_00 39:29

Sure I'm I'm actually familiar with Bright course and and I I've talked to Pam. Now they have they have actually I was mentioning a little bit earlier so Katie Vidmar did provide create a a great course on fertility awareness on there so I I recommend that definitely uh as an introduction for parent for for adults right it is very good material uh to help young moms uh this is this is on the um bride course yeah on the bride course yeah I'm so happy to hear that because one of our problems is if we have a you know a younger teenager who comes in uh with a scare yeah finds out she's not pre pregnant then she's relieved and we never see her again whereas if we could in uh you know encourage her to take a look at these materials yeah yeah um yeah so with Brightcourse it's um the the the way the the videos can be sent is via SMS using HopeSync.

SPEAKER_04 40:21

That's a really and then that way it's on her phone and then she can see it and you know the conversation history can be uh kept on her phone via SMS. And so it's a pretty convenient way to provide those you know better than email or phone calls.

SPEAKER_00 40:37

Yes and we could give her something besides diapers and bottles you know what something maybe a call we're we're yeah we're working on on some new series uh I I I mean I I know it's been very they're they're doing a lot of changes to their course so so but we're we're in conversations about you know possibly doing doing something together and love to do more for sure.

SPEAKER_01 41:00

And Gerard have you had um more information about how when girls learn about their cycles that that they're not only understanding the fertility better but it helps them regulate their um emotional world.

SPEAKER_00 41:14

Very much right so so one of the big issue things that we see is um you know again that I was talking about the 20-80% shift uh it's the same thing with I understand why I feel certain way at different times of my cycle so again like only 20% know that at the beginning and at the end it's 80% understand and and what we love the quote so like I give myself more grace. Yes and and it becomes much more part of their life like okay this is this is why I feel this way uh we've even had so a couple of stories one is is this young woman she works for us now and I oh that's the question you were asking about the the gray hair okay what I what I think is is one of the things that's really beautiful about the I'm so blessed that the work we're doing with those clubs is that now I mean those those young women are such so empowered and so personally uh you know uh solid yeah that they this this formation is more than just for their health like it they become really strong professional and and so we have uh you know one of uh I mean I just you know one works for Association Press or you know one works for for a Catholic vote I mean like we have two that are working for us and it's like man we're so good and so they're the future this is in in 10 years I I am I firmly believe that this organization is gonna be led by former leaders of the psychomindfulness club yes so so that's that's something I want to say like yeah the new generation is taking over and they're they're amazing uh I hope yeah they're they're they're taking so we're not we we can we can retire in a few years I hope it's on the horizon it's on the horizon but so what was I'm now I'm I lost my train of thought uh we were talking about uh well let's see what we're talking about well mostly just trying to get this information to young people sooner mentioned the SMS messaging which you know great idea uh I just said I think we need to figure out coupons that don't apply to diapers and and bottles or whatever you know let's get to that yeah yeah yeah a lottery or something so yeah um you know I I I guess I guess the thing I'm thinking is this is not as exciting as working in pro life uh clinics because when you work in a pro life clinic you're usually meeting women in crisis yeah and what I hear you saying Gerard is that when women understand their bodies that they're only fertile one quarter of the month and not even

SPEAKER_01 44:00

All of their lifetime that they're mastering that and that gives them confidence and that gives them emotional stability in a way that you just can't find anywhere else.

SPEAKER_00 44:10

Right. You know, that to your point is that yeah, I I uh it's it's the analogy of uh diabetes, for example, right? So so a lot of uh help and care it comes to people who are in crisis, right? And it's good you know to have all these systems and all that, and but it's also a lot of funding that goes with that. Yes, um, and it's a lot harder to get people motivated about prevention, yes, you know, but boy, it is needed, and we know it works. You know, how do you educate? And so we have we have a change there that's happening, but it's still like you know, that's where I feel like we fall. Like, you know, how how do I get someone very excited about oh, you need to teach young women about their cycles and and and and and to train them to chart? And it's like, okay, but they're not, you know, they're not crying for help. And they're hiding it, actually. They're not that's the thing. It's like they don't even necessarily know that they need it. So it's uh this whole work of you know bringing them along, it's and and bringing along the parent, right? Uh bring that uh so it's very it's it's very important and it's not easy, uh it's costly. Uh we've been able to do it at a you know at a very I would say a shoestring budget, but to really you know we're we're it's it's gonna need really a lot more support to be able to do that very well.

SPEAKER_01 45:38

It's time consuming at a larger scale. Yes, and it's it's time consuming, and uh like any kind of education, you know, the rewards aren't immediate. You have to trust in your student that they will take this knowledge and use it.

SPEAKER_00 45:52

Yeah. Yeah. And you were talking about the you know, the understanding of the cycle and different times, and that that was giving me, yeah, that was the story I wanted to speak to about is athletes. So we had uh the young woman who who works for us now who uh when she was in high school, she was a uh uh run tracked, and so she thought she should get on a diet to be skinnier, to be you know, more uh you know, better at track. And so she started losing weight and she lost her period. She actually it turned into more of even an obsession for her, and so she had all these issues with and then finally she realized you know, learn about charting, learn about our cycle, and there was a lot of healing that happened, and and and started gaining weight, and uh and she said, you know, you know, she wrote an article because she worked with again, like she for us, it's like you know, gaining 10 pounds made me a better athlete because she worked with our cycle. So it was a really huge shift, and uh, and so so it's an example of a story, right? So you you again work with your body, those young women understand when they understand that uh it gives them so much so much more power.

SPEAKER_01 47:12

Yes, yes, it can change the whole direction of their lives, really.

SPEAKER_00 47:17

Actually, the the soccer team, the women's soccer team for a while, I don't know if they still do that, but the US women's soccer team, when they won the World Cup, what is it, 10 eight years ago, that they were doing they were charting, they were using the charts and the cycle to better understand when how to adjust the uh their training. So the coach was you remember that it's amazing, right?

SPEAKER_01 47:42

I think I remember that that was utilized as another tool of understanding. Yes, yes. Uh there's um one of the doctors that I knew at Stanford years ago who actually um helped formulate the birth control pill, Dr. Carl Jurassi, he was a chemist at Stanford, and he wrote an article that he he believed that every woman should know where they are in their cycle as a matter of routine health information. So fertility uh awareness, he called this article was fertility awareness colon, uh a jet age um rhythm. So meaning that rhythm hadn't worked, it was based on calendars, but fertility awareness would bring it personal to that woman, her symptoms this day, and then looking at it in the context of each, you know, each month. So yeah, it is it is definitely not rhythm. Rhythm didn't work. That's why I think a lot of folks that's why they have a maybe a misunderstanding of fertility awareness because they're not the same thing. This is like you said, basically.

SPEAKER_00 48:49

Great point. Yeah. Basically, yeah, the modern methods of natural family planning, fertility awareness are uh much more effective because they help women track their assignments, and we should have maybe started with that. I don't know how many people are familiar, but the the concept is very simple is there are biomarkers that helps identify when a woman is actually ovulating, which is ovulation being the most important event in the cycle, it's not periods. Uh, and then so understanding that so the biomarkers are either typically most often cervical mucus or cervical fluid, uh, which changes substance, you know, texture and substance uh as uh woman approaches ovulation and then uh stop being produced uh are visible, and then uh and then temperature is another sign that can be observed, and uh, and then there are urine uh markers too. So I mean a hormone in the urine that can be marked, that can be uh also measured. So these are key biomarkers uh and different methods use different ones and different approaches, but the idea, the concept is understanding where a woman is in her cycle, what's the fertile window, which is five to seven days, it's not the entire cycle, she cannot be suspecting fertile there during the entire cycle. And uh and if she's uh you know she and her husband are uh you know uh trying to avoid pregnancy, then they know uh when to uh abstain and when to uh to uh engage in in intercourse based on that knowledge, or if they are trying to uh get pregnant, it actually helps them uh a lot to uh achieve pregnancy faster.

SPEAKER_01 50:36

That's one of the benefits of fertility awareness. It can be used to achieve or postpone pregnancy. You don't have to stop something and withdraw from something, you know, you can just use the method to whatever it is that you uh you and your husband you know discern for your frightful. Right.

SPEAKER_00 50:53

So yeah, and and we see that you know, so there's a movement also going on around that. A lot more women are interested and learning, and it's grown a lot. Yeah, even though it's still like I think data I've heard is about three percent of women use it, but it's worth from one percent. Like it's a huge shift, right? It's it's grown in the past ten years, uh, and I think it's gonna keep growing because women are realizing the you know the benefits and and and the problems we have with contraception.

SPEAKER_01 51:26

Gerard, one last question from me, and that is I know it's been a while since you lived in Europe, but one thing that I've kind of picked up in teaching and promoting Teen Star is that there's much more openness, I would say, in Europe and South America, they are they don't seem to have as many um impediments, you know, to talking about fertility and fertility awareness as opposed to here in the United States. And I wondered if you've noticed any cultural differences in how that's this information is received.

SPEAKER_00 51:56

Yeah, it's it's a little hard to say. I you know, I haven't lived in the in have lived in the US for 31 years now. But I I keep an eye on what's happening. I think the movement uh in terms of the friendly awareness movement is a little bit behind in in Europe because the you know socialized medicine and and then the you know just the the system has has been um more established and and so you know it's it's I think catching up very fast at the same time. Uh you know, and uh and there is I would say the I mean there's still a little bit of a difference between because in in the US where maybe there's this Puritanist culture still where it's still taboo, and and there's you know in France a little more openness to speak about the body in a natural way. Uh so I think that's why it probably uh it's going to catch up pretty fast. Yes, but but but it's it's behind in terms of the time.

SPEAKER_01 53:01

As you mentioned, the latest research uh came from Chile, you know. And then when I when we so we have a Teen Star International Conference every year, and it seems like there are more attendees uh you know from Europe and South America, which I'm delighted. I just want to get more of us there too.

SPEAKER_04 53:19

So awesome. Well, Gerard, we're we're about we're about three minutes until your next appointment, so we have about three minutes left. Would you share um where someone can learn more and maybe how to reach you, like maybe the website address, or you know, how might someone look up, you know, get more ins more information if as this has uh piqued their interest?

SPEAKER_00 53:40

Yes. So so the the main website is naturalwomanhood.org, and that's where the magazine is, and you'll find uh all the articles and other you know some guides. You also have their uh get help uh button or or tab that leads to uh doctors all over the US and and beyond who provide this uh restorative or productive medicine approach. You also have in the get help uh find an instructor uh to find uh people who teach natural family planning of different methods or furly awareness. So it's Creighton Billings, Plam, uh couple to couple league. So we have uh a lot of resources there. So that's uh uh information. Then the I talked about uh period genius, so uh it's on our website, but uh you you can also just do period genius.com or period genius.org uh and find it. And then uh the cycle mindfulness clubs uh information will be under get involved, and uh and you at the bottom there's a uh a button that says cycle mindfulness clubs, and that's where the information about the clubs is. Uh you can email us at info at networkwomanhood.org. Uh, and uh at the bottom of the website too, there's uh a phone number for if you if someone wants to reach us.

SPEAKER_01 55:02

And Gerard, folks can uh uh subscribe to your online magazine, right? And get it in.

SPEAKER_00 55:07

Absolutely, yes. We have over 15,000 uh email readers that can so we we send out an email. We have you have new three new original articles every day, every every week. Uh not every day, not yet. Uh but we have yeah, so so we have any news uh for that, and people want to stay plugged into you know uh most up-to-date information about women's health again uh along the lines of uh vision and anthropology uh that is supported by you know the the Christian values of you know respecting uh women, respecting the body, respecting life.

SPEAKER_04 55:47

Awesome. Thank you, Gerard, so much for being on here. Suzanne, would you wrap up our podcast by closing us in prayer and praying for you know the pricey clinics and the leadership that's listening along with Gerard and his ministry and work?

SPEAKER_01 56:03

Yes, absolutely, thank you. What an honor, Jacob. Um Heavenly Father, we come before you today with gratitude for life, life at every stage, from the moment of conception until natural death, where hopefully we return to your loving arms. Please bless us, please guide us, please show us the way through your grace and unite us in this wonderful work of preserving your astounding creation. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

SPEAKER_04 56:32

Amen. Very good.

SPEAKER_02 56:57

I fell before the throne. Redemption every day. For me, the dead was pain. Life he freely lay down to face the grave. If your heart is filled with pain, and all you see is rain. Turning in the praying lead me on my way home. Oh I was young that Jesus takes off. He died from the cross, and now he is my thought. When you feel the pain, I'll use brain. Jesus died away. Oh Jesus, life away. Oh Jesus, life away. Came from up to the team does the dog the lion and the dough. When you feel the pain and all you see the train, turn it in the back when I feel the pain and don't see it.