By Ann Marschel

I want you to think about this for a little bit. Do you think of teaching the Billings Ovulation Method® (BOM) as a ministry or a business? I think most of us think of it as a ministry.

Ministry, by definition from Webster, is the spiritual work or service of any Christian. Teaching BOM is a ministry, but it also can be a business. It can be a business that allows you to help others while also making a profit and not burning out because you have lots of other jobs you are doing.

For the April webinar, BOMA-USA hosted Anna Saucier, who spoke on the promotion of the Billings Ovulation Method®. She was a dynamite speaker and gave some helpful tips on how to make teaching BOM a business and not to underplay what we, as teachers, have to offer our clients.

Client-Facing Professionalism

As I was listening to Anna speak, her words hit home for me. I can recall many times when I have spoken with clients and gone through the process of how they will learn the method with me. Then, at the end, the question comes: “How much will this cost?”

First off, I am not a salesperson. I don’t really care for that line of work at all. In fact, I steer away from it. Instead, I am someone who thinks that ALL people should learn BOM, and I believe in the message of NFP.

After this question is asked, I find myself stumbling over my words. I want to help all people learn the method, yet will they put as much effort into learning the method if they don’t have some money invested in it? Maybe or maybe not?

Overall, we want clients to feel like they are of value, and we don’t want to make it seem like a huge amount of money is needed to learn the Billings Ovulation Method®. Yet, do we charge them a huge amount of money? No. Most teachers charge $150 to $250. Plus, when they learn the method, they have it in their toolbox for the rest of their lives!

Anna said, “Those who pay, pay attention. And the more they pay, the more attention they pay.”

She goes onto say that you can approach your clients by stating, “These are my rates. I provide excellent service, and if you take these classes, they will change your life.”

This is another truth. We all know and love what the Billings Ovulation Method® provides. We value it so much that we want everyone to learn it. That is why we teach it. We can and should charge clients a professional rate and not feel bad about it.  After all, we have over 850,000 hormonal studies to back up the science of the method.

Common Objections to Charging Professional Rates

Even with this, there may still be hesitation to charge a professional rate. You may think people won’t pay that much. I would like to encourage you to reframe your thinking. Is learning BOM valuable? If someone says to you, “That is too expensive,” you could ask. “Compared to what?”

This is a lifetime method.

Maybe you think people in your city can’t and won’t be able to pay that much. Anna said this, “The people who can’t afford it may not be your purpose right now (depending if you’re trying to grow a business). Do not undervalue this professional service.” In the future, these people may benefit if you can have scholarship funds for them.

By viewing the Billings Ovulation Method® as a medical tool for fertility awareness and instilling this knowledge in our clients, we will change their lives and the world.

(Please do not send confidential information related to couples you have taught.)

If you have ever wondered what you should do with your vast array of NFP-related materials when you retire, fear not! The answer is a simple as packing everything up and sending your box (or boxes, no doubt) to the National NFP Archives located at Ave Maria University in Ave Maria, FL.

Hand chosen years ago by a small committee begun by, now deceased, Larry Kane of the Human Life and Natural Family Planning Foundation, Ave Maria was picked because of the care they promised to take in preserving the historic pieces.

Jennifer Nodes, director of library services for Canizaro Library at Ave Maria University, said the NFP archives are stored in a climate-controlled room and files are kept in archival boxes that are pH neutral.

To date, Nodes reports that they have 178.5 linear feet of NFP materials, totaling 2,364 volumes. She added, “The archives have been used more frequently by researchers both within the institution and outside. We have had several researchers this year come to view files within the archives for publications. As the archives are made more visible and more researchers become aware of them, we will see an increase in use. It is our hope that someday much of the archives will be digitized and made available online for researchers.”

Since they host the only NFP archive in the country, Nodes said it would be helpful for recording the history of the movement if they continue to update the collection, particularly regarding new developments in NFP.

Retired OB/Gyn and Medical Missionary Sister Hanna Klaus, MD, said of the archives, “It’s very valuable having a place to send materials.” Over the years, Klaus sent boxes of her treasured correspondence and other documents to Ave Maria University. As the founder of TeenSTAR, she is considering the library as a place that may make the most sense to house the historical background of TeenSTAR. 

While shipping is at your expense, it will be well worth the time and effort to preserve a piece of history. They welcome everything from educational and promotional materials (books, brochures, CDs, etc.) to personal correspondence with leaders in the field as well as news articles and just about anything that would be of interest to researchers both now and in the future.
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NFP Archives
Canizaro Library
5251 Donahue Street
Ave Maria, FL 34142
 
​To find aids for the collection CLICK HERE

Abstract

Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive after 1 year of un-protected intercourse. In the U.S. it affects over 6 million couples and the causes are widespread. There are numerous mechanisms where nutritional deficiencies can alter the reproductive system. As with other organ systems in the body, when function is compromised, steps should be taken to ensure that nutritional deficiencies are not the cause. Research on how micro and macro nutrients affect reproduction is an area of recent interest. Since protein is one of the major requirements for adequate nutrition, data have been presented on consumption of meat and how that affects fertility. There were 12 papers reviewed from the fertility literature related to meat protein with one group of researchers out of Harvard contributing greater than half of the published literature on this subject. The evidence presented strongly implicate meat consumption as a causative factor in infertility.  On closer evaluation, there is the potential for bias based the existence of variables that have not been fully understood nor controlled for. The principle variable of interest for this paper is the animal feeding method and evidence for how this can alter the nutritional content of meat is presented. There were 4 pivotal references demonstrating how this variable is a significant factor in the nutritional content. In addition to eliminating potential chemical contamination, ideal production methods can alter the fatty acid and antioxidant content. The evidence for how content differences such as fatty-acids, anti-oxidants, vitamins and chemical contaminants can affect reproductive function offer a partial explanation for the negative effect of eating meat on fertility.

Introduction

Infertility affects 15-25% of couples in the United States (Thoma, et al., 2013). According to 2012 census data there were 75 million women between the ages of 15-50 and 59% of them were mothers (Monte and Ellis, 2014). Using this number of 44 million mothers, you can extrapolate that 6-11 million couples in the US are unable to conceive after a year of unprotected intercourse. This is an enormous number and the reasons for this are widespread, but nutritional factors must be considered an important factor. In fact, nutrition has only recently been evaluated more closely as evidenced by the number of papers discovered in this review that have been published in the last 10 years. Also, nutrition was rarely, if ever considered as part of the infertility work-up in many assisted reproductive technology programs as this technology was developing (Turczynski personal experience 1993-1999).

Nutrition in reproduction is a very broad topic. The study of nutritional physiology clearly indicates that there are numerous areas where deficiencies can affect the reproductive process. Put simply, adequate nutrition is a prerequisite to fertility so when difficulties with conceiving arise, it makes sense to evaluate the couple to make sure deficiencies in macro and micro nutrients are not a factor. After that, it becomes a practical consideration of which macro and micro nutrients are best, for example, the type and quantity of meat protein consumed. Meat consumption, as a form of protein, has been an area of recent research leading to some practical recommendations for women trying to conceive.

As with all areas of medicine, bias exists based on the authors experience and the political or economic environment. Peer-review is meant to reduce the prevalence of this however, politics can play a big part in the selection of review panels for major journals. It is always wise to consider the possibility of bias and to look at results with a skeptic’s eye. It is interesting how often we hear about new research findings conducted years later that contradict the prevailing standard of care, yet we take the new research as the definitive word on the subject. This holds true for areas of medicine as well as nutritional and social issues. Examples of issues where bias have or could result in misguided policies affecting millions of people include the hydrogenation of vegetable fat, overpopulation and potentially now, global climate change. This review uses this skeptical approach as the basis for analysis. The hypothesis is: The effect of meat consumption on fertility has not been adequately evaluated and allows only general recommendations when the source of the meat has not been controlled for.

In order to test this hypothesis, the author needed to go outside of the infertility literature and look at nutritional studies focusing on the production of meat. Srdnicka-Tober, et. al., (2016) did a meta-analysis of the compositional differences between organic and conventional meat. This paper, with contributions by 25 co-authors, provides a pivotal piece of information necessary for evaluating how a meat diet can affect fertility, or health in general. Seven hundred and seven papers published between 1992-2014, in all languages were considered but the final meta-analysis was narrowed down to 67 publications. The evidence base was only strong enough to compare specific fatty acid profiles, but they were also able to calculate thrombogenicity and atherogenicity indices. Daley et al., (2010) reviewed literature and reported on the fatty acid profiles and antioxidant content of grass-fed vs grain-fed beef. Their analysis evaluated the type and quantity of saturated fat, the omega 6: omega 3 ratio and the quantity of anti-oxidants, demonstrating significant differences between these two production practices used for beef. Finally, two studies on pork production methods indicate that the diet of the pig can have an even greater impact on the nutritional content of pork because the pig is a monogastric animal as compared to the multi-compartmental ruminants (Gjerlaug-Enger et al., 2014; Dugan et al., 2015).

The purpose of this paper was to review the literature on the effect of meat protein consumption on fertility and to scrutinize the data for bias, pointing out which variables have not been controlled for. Literature was located by doing a search on google and PubMed using phrases like “fertility and protein” and “infertility and nutrition”. Key papers were read, and the bibliographies were reviewed drilling down on references specifically addressing meat consumption and infertility. Meat production methods were also searched on google and PubMed using terms like grass-fed, pastured, organic, feeding and meat, pork, beef, etc.

Results

The author will summarize some of the key findings in the papers and then present on overall combined result at the end of this section. Meta-analysis articles were incorporated into combined result because these authors further analyzed the combined data. Review articles were more closely evaluated for the specific papers related to meat consumption and the results from those individual papers were used in combined result, instead of the review article.

In Charvarro, et al., (2008), there was a total of 26,971 pregnancy or pregnancy attempts with a 12.7% incidence of infertility and 20.2% of those infertility events defined as ovulatory. This resulted in a 1.6% overall incidence of ovulatory infertility in the study group with most of the cases being a diagnosis of PCOS. Meat intake was positively associated with ovulatory dysfunction and the consequences of adding one additional serving of meat per day resulted in a 32% higher risk of ovulatory infertility. Furthermore, consuming 5% of energy as vegetable protein instead of animal protein resulted in a 50% lower risk of ovulatory infertility.

Overall, this was a very strong correlation, statistically significant, from a well published group out of Harvard. While some weakness can be attributed to the collection of data such as pregnancy, pregnancy attempt and diet being self-reported, a correlation between animal protein intake and ovulatory dysfunction is strong.

In Salas-Huetos, et al., (2017), a systematic review revealed that the components of what is considered a healthy diet for men such as whole foods, seafood, fruit, vegetables, chicken, whole grain and low-fat dairy was associated with better fertility parameters. This was related to higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants such as folate, Vitamin D, E, C, Beta-carotene and lycopene. Whereas, higher consumption of processed food, processed meat, full-fat dairy and cheese, alcohol, caffeine and sugar are associated with a negative influence on fertility parameters. From this paper, I was able to extract 4 studies that had specific results related to meat. Mendiola et al., (2009), Eslamian et al., (2012), Afeiche et al., (2014a) and Afeiche et al., (2014b) concluded that intake of processed meat products was associated with poorer sperm quality parameters.

In Fontana, R. and Della Torre, S. (2016), the authors have done a very thorough and thought-provoking analysis looking at the mechanisms by which macro-nutrients influence cellular and endocrine function. Their paper does not have specific information related directly to meat consumption and is therefore not used for the final combined analysis. They do however, present significant indirect evidence useful in confirming the hypothesis.  Specifically, there is plenty of evidence demonstrating that the fatty acid profile a person consumes has numerous potential mechanisms for modulating reproductive function. Overall, a higher intake of poly-unsaturated fatty acids with a greater proportion of these being omega 3 was beneficial to metabolic and hormonal characteristics. The lower ratio of omega 6 fatty acids such as arachidonic acid can influence prostaglandin synthesis and subsequently affect ovarian steroid production, pain and inflammation. The authors conclude with Hippocrates prophetic quote on how the precise amount of nourishment and exercise is the safest way to health.

In Nassan et al., (2018), the total meat/fish intake per day ranged from 0-4.12 and averaged 1.2 servings per day. Egg consumption range and average was 0-4, .44 servings/day and vegetable protein range and average were 0.04-7.56, 1.29 servings/day. Processed meat intake was associated with lower fertilization rates (negative observation) and fish intake was associated with lower peak estrogen concentrations during hyperstimulation (possibly a positive observation). Total meat/fish intake, egg consumption or vegetable protein consumption was not associated with assisted reproductive technology success rates, but fish intake was significantly associated with a higher birth rate. This same effect was not duplicated with fish oil supplementation.

Using statistical analysis, the authors estimated the effect of substituting one type of protein for all other types of protein, both animal and plant derived. Substituting fish for all other proteins consistently increased the chance of live birth and this substitution effect was strongest when fish substituted for processed meat.

Interestingly, unprocessed meat was positively correlated with live birth rates when data was evaluated in categories but not when evaluated as a continuous variable. Another example of additional variables possibly influencing the results was that women with higher meat consumption also had higher BMI, total fat, carbohydrate and protein intake, higher total energy intake, higher alcohol consumption and greater adherence to a “western” dietary pattern. Making it difficult to accept the conclusion that the effect was due to eating meat alone.

Gaskins and Chavarro’s (2018) review paper was useful for pulling out 2 additional studies not previously reported here on the meat consumption and fertility. Jeong et al., (2010) assessed the risk of contaminants such as hormones on human health and concluded that levels are negligible and not likely to pose a risk when utilized according to approved veterinary practices. Antibiotics and anti-microbials on the other hand could affect the gut microflora of the person consuming the meat and need to be further investigated. This is an important observation since we know gut microflora can have profound affects on human health, however, it only reinforces the need to use healthier meat production methods to eliminate this possible health effect. Briga, et. al., (2015) reported on the development of 2659 human embryos cultured in-vitro from 269 patients and observed a negative influence of the consumption of red meat on the ability of the embryo to form a blastocyst. Consumption of red meat and BMI also had a negative effect on implantation and pregnancy.

Scrutiny of all the studies leaves 3 original papers evaluating meat consumption on female fertility factors and 4 original papers evaluating male fertility. The male fertility papers however, specifically looked at processed meat only and some studies had other dietary differences between the study subjects. These studies are summarized below in Figure 1.

Q.        Tell us about your family.

A.         My parents live in St. Paul, MN, as does my brother, Tom, and his wife and their six children. We spend a lot of time going to athletic games and theater events thanks to my talented nieces and nephews. My weekends give me great diversion! My younger brother, Joe, invented a cool retractable leash for dogs called the SmartLeash™. It has a braking mechanism that works like a seatbelt when a dog lurches at something like a squirrel. He won an award for best pet product of the year a few years ago. It’s saved my little dog a couple of times when she tried chasing loud cars and motorcycles. Both of my brothers are in the pet industry. (Tom has a five-state sales territory for a company that is based in Rhode Island.)

Q.        How did you get involved with Billings?

A.         Dr. John Billings spoke at a conference at a Catholic university near St. Cloud, MN, back in 1972. The local diocesan bishop, George Speltz, was in the audience, and he decided to bring the Billings Method™ to the Diocese of St. Cloud. He asked his family life director for someone he could send to a training. Fr. Ed Kraemer knew my parents, Dave and Kay Ek, as active volunteers and a couple who were committed to Church teaching. My mother was hesitant to commit because she had three fairly young children at the time. So, she and my dad said a rosary novena. Well, you can imagine that pretty much cemented the decision. Mary Hughes and her husband were another couple from the area who coordinated the marriage prep program. They joined my parents for the training in New Orleans, LA. The trainer was Mercedes Wilson, who developed the stickers we use today.

The two women had no idea until years later that it was the first-ever training held in the United States. Practically as soon as my mother returned to St. Cloud and word spread about this new method, it took off like wildfire. We would travel to various parishes on the weekends at the invitation of the pastors. It was fun as kids to have an adventure every weekend.

My mother was on a few national boards over the years. Throughout high school and college, I helped in the office. Eventually, I was working full-time with the local diocese. Then, in 1996, my mom was elected president of BOMA-USA. We had permission to house BOMA under the auspices of the St. Cloud diocesan NFP office. I was juggling a full-time position as NFP coordinator and the additional work of the national organization on top of that.  Back in those days, the St. Cloud marriage prep course brought in huge numbers of new Billings clients each year. We sometimes had a 50% acceptance rate after a marriage prep weekend. I was doing a lot of the marriage prep instruction and follow-ups in addition to the other work. It was crazy! At the end of 2000, we decided to separate the national organization from the diocese. That’s when I became the first executive director, which was in January of 2001.

Q.        What have been some of the highlights of your work?
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A.         Drs. John and Lyn Billings invited my parents and me to join them at their summer residence, about an hour outside of Melbourne, one year following a conference in Melbourne, Australia. It was Holy Week, and we will never forget getting up at 3 a.m. to drive down a long, winding, and narrow mountain path to get to an Easter Vigil Mass in a country parish. Afterward, there was a bonfire, and we had sweet rolls and tea in the rectory. We later learned that we were their last guests before they sold that home. We also visited their home in Melbourne a couple of times and had meals together. One evening they took us to a lovely restaurant where Dr. John ordered appetizers that included caviar. That was when my dad discovered he was very allergic to caviar! Dr. John quipped, “The next time you go to the doctor and they ask you what you are allergic to, you can say caviar!"

When visiting with the Drs. Billings, I found them to always be very interested in the work that was being done in the U.S., particularly in St. Cloud because our numbers were higher than anywhere in the country. They had a great sense of humor. I remember laughing with them a lot.

Drs. John and Lyn were guests of ours in St. Cloud more than once. In fact, they stayed in our home.

Q.  That is fascinating that you had the Drs. Billings stay in your home. Have you had any other famous people in the NFP world as your guests?

A.  Yes! Mostly the others were over for dinner and didn’t actually stay overnight.  Some of them included Dr. Erik Odeblad of Umea, Sweden; Dr. Josef Roetzer of Austria (who developed the Sympto-Thermal Method); Dr. Hanna Klaus of Maryland (TeenSTAR developer); Marian and Jim Corkill of WOOMB in Melbourne, Australia; Dr. Mary Martin of Oklahoma; Dr. Richard Fehring of Wisconsin; Dr. Ruth Taylor (now deceased); Fr. Ronald Lawler, O.F.M, Cap. (a now-deceased theologian); Mary Pat Van Epps of Memphis, TN; Eileen Wood  of Massachusetts (among other past and present board members along with quite a few others over the years.

Another highlight for me was having the privilege of meeting Saint John Paul II three times. The first time, my parents and I were invited to a private Mass in the papal summer residence outside of Rome. We were there at the invitation of Mercedes Wilson, whose daughter was being married the following day. She and the pope were good friends, so he offered a special Mass the day before the wedding. Another time, I presented the Holy Father a copy of the first edition of the book by BOMA called A Preachable Message. The next evening, we had a message waiting for us at the convent where we were staying, telling us that we were invited to Mass in his private chapel. There were about 35 of us. It was such a privilege!

Q.        What have been some of the challenges with your work?

A.         The ebb and flow of money throughout the years has been a challenge. I know this work is God’s work so I choose to trust that He will continue to help us. It’s exciting that we have added Craig Turczynski as our new Director of Development and Strategic Planning. He has great vision for our future. I am very hopeful having him be a part of the BOMA team.

​Another challenge is some of the bias against the Billings Method™ that we have faced. I, like others, wish we had more published studies to confirm the effectiveness rates that we know are true. One time I was at a conference in Milwaukee, and the editor of a major medical journal was at the podium. Someone posed the question, “Why aren’t there more published studies on the Billings Method™?” His answer was a shrug and, “Well, we all know the Billings Method™ works!” I remember his words exactly. It felt great to hear him say that as I was sitting next to a colleague from another NFP method who tended to misrepresent our statistics.  

By Craig Turczynski

We had the opportunity to display and market our services at the FACTS (Fertility Appreciation Collaborative to Teach the Science) and AAPLOG (American Association of Pro-life Obstetricians & Gynecologists) meetings, which took place on April 5-7 in Indianapolis.

Without getting into the details of the logistics of travel, reminiscent of the movie Planes, Trains and Automobiles, we wanted to make you aware of this activity. Connecting with healthcare professionals was our primary goal. Being there not only reinforced our mission to people who are aware of BOMA, but there were numerous individuals who now know about us who had no idea previously. The conferences were inter-faith, and it is encouraging to see both Catholic and Protestant brethren involved in the pro-life mission. Faith aside, the most important factor is the solid science that continues to reinforce the healthier alternatives to conventional medicine’s promotion of birth control, assisted reproductive technology, and abortion. Legislative issues were also discussed along the lines of healthcare professional’s right to practice medicine according to their conscience. The federal update presentation given by Roger Severino from the HHS office was enlightening, and the HHS department’s recent efforts to protect religious freedom and the right of conscience in healthcare was encouraging. The full agenda of AAPLOG can be viewed here: https://conference.aaplog.org/.

There were many like-minded organizations who also exhibited at the conferences and opportunities for key strategic partnerships were explored.

Craig Turczynski, Ph.D.
Director of Development and Strategic Planning. BOMA

by Jennifer McManus

What a blessing to participate in the 19th Annual Catholic Men's Conference in Worcester, MA. During the vendor hall time between speakers, my husband and I spoke to men both younger and older, who looked at our printed materials and signed up for the BOMA newsletter so as to be more informed on NFP and BOM in particular. Some were happy to pass along the Preachable Message CD to their pastors and/or listen to it themselves. We also heard great things about the book The Estrogeneration. We were told it is a must-read book but to get ready to not put it down once you start.

We discussed the use of NFP for women with irregular cycles and that Creighton or sympto-thermal methods are not the only methods. We hope that the sharing of our message will encourage men at this conference, as well as bring hope for infertility with other couples in their lives. During the speaker sessions, vendors were asked to leave the hall, at which time, we were able to connect with other vendors. One woman is involved with the Catholic Medical Center in NH. There may be a possibility to be interviewed for a Catholic radio show called "This is the Day."
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The nurses who work at a crisis pregnancy center were interested in the medical webinar series in May. There were also present representatives from three seminaries. One already had the Preachable Message book in their library and said how good it is. The other two were happy to have it and expressed great appreciation for the gift of both book and CD. I personally was asked to give a presentation to my diocesan deaconate program. We hugged some friends, were happily approached by strangers, and may never know how far our efforts or information may go.

By Eileen Wood

The Widow of Zarephath (1 Kings 17:8-16)

Then the word of the Lord came to [Elijah]. “Arise, go to Zarephath, which belongs to Sidon, and dwell there. Behold, I have commanded a widow there to feed you.”

So, he arose and went to Zarephath; and when he came to the gate of the city, behold, a widow was there gathering sticks; and he called to her and said, “Bring me a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.” And as she was going to bring it, he called to her and said, “Bring me a morsel of bread in your hand.”

And she said, “As the Lord your God lives, I have nothing baked, only a handful of meal in a jar, and a little oil in a pitcher; and now, I am gathering a couple of sticks, that I may go in and prepare it for myself and my son, that we may eat it, and die.”

And Elijah said to her, “Fear not; go and do as you have said; but first make me a little cake of it and bring it to me, and afterward make for yourself and your son. For thus says the Lord the God of Israel, ‘The jar of meal shall not be spent, and the pitcher of oil shall not fail, until the day that the Lord sends rain upon the earth.”

And she went and did as Elijah said; and she, and he, and her household ate for many days. The jar of meal was not spent, neither did the pitcher of oil fail, according to the word of the Lord which he spoke by Elijah.

The topic of money is something that tends to be quite difficult for most people to talk about in our society. In fact, people will often reveal their contraceptive mentality with perfect strangers in the checkout line at the grocery store (Saying things like “You have HOW many kids? I got my girl, I got my boy, I got no more” or “Two and through!”) and yet won’t share their annual salary with their closest friends or siblings.

As uncomfortable as finances might be to discuss, it is an important topic in many ways. God calls us to be generous in all areas of our lives, including our time, talent, and treasures. For those of us who are using and teaching the Billings Ovulation Method®, we have already struggled through the concept of being generous with our fertility and cooperating with God in bringing forth new life. But what about being generous in all areas of our life?

Tithing is generally thought of as giving a tenth of your income to charity. For those who strictly follow it, that tenth comes right off the top, even before Uncle Sam takes his share. Then, typically your local church will get half of your tithe while the other half goes to various charities of your choice.

My husband and I have handled our charitable giving in different ways over the years. At times, we just picked a random amount to give to church each week and went up a few dollars annually when we got a raise. At other times, we approached it more rigorously and looked at our yearly gross income, calculating 10% of that and compared it to how much we were giving. We found that, as generous as we thought we were being, it was well below 10%. We then worked slowly to correct that.

A missionary priest once put all of this in perspective for me by saying, “Does 10% of your money belong to God? No, 100% of your money belongs to God. He is just gracious enough to let you keep 90% of it. So, if you don’t give back that 10%, then you are stealing from God!” His words were tough and challenging, but they always stuck with me.

A funny thing about living life God’s way is that it actually becomes easier and even enjoyable. So, if you decide how much money to give away to charity off the top, you have already detached yourself from that money in your mind. It is as if it’s no longer yours. (Think of it like tax withholdings taken out of your paycheck so you don’t ever think of that money as being yours from the start. Only in this case, God doesn’t force you to give like the government does.) Now, you can have some real fun with it. Yes, fun! It becomes like a game.

Let’s think in round numbers. If your household earns $100,000/year, you are talking about $10,000 in charitable giving. Half of that should go to support your local church, meaning $5,000 or about $100/per week will go in the collection basket. But what about that other $100 per week? Well, that goes to an appropriate charity of your choice. Requests for donations are always coming in the mail, through email, and from family and friends. If you have children in Catholic schools, there will be many opportunities that way as well. And please don’t forget about BOMA!

Now, instead of feeling the stress of desperately “looking” for money from your budget to donate, you can just have fun giving away “someone else’s money” since it isn’t yours anymore!

In the biblical passage at the beginning of this article, God, through Elijah asks the widow to give away everything, even down to her last morsel of food. In obedience, she does what is asked and is rewarded many times over. Always remember, God will not be outdone in generosity. After all, He has all the money in the world!
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For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21

By Eileen Wood

Did you know there is a little-known gene found in all of us that directs the body to produce an enzyme called methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR)? If not, please read on. This topic can have huge implications for your clients and maybe even yourself since almost half of the population is affected to some degree.

Folate is vital for the body to make DNA, RNA, and to metabolize amino acids, which provide the body with energy, break down food, and contribute to growth and tissue repair. It is also essential for pregnant women in order to prevent neural tube defects. A critical point to note is that, contrary to common understanding, folate and folic acid are not the same thing. Folate occurs naturally in foods. Folic acid is synthetically made and added to vitamins and food.

In 1998, the federal government mandated the addition of folic acid to almost all of our processed food supply, especially grains and cereals. The idea was to ensure that pregnant women would get enough folate to prevent neural tube birth defects. This campaign seems to have been successful to some degree. But what about for the people with this MTHFR gene mutation, who cannot break down folic acid and convert it to folate? For them, the folic acid becomes a toxin. It eventually results in an abnormally elevated homocysteine level, which can lead to heart attack, stroke, Alzheimer’s, cancer fetal abnormalities, neural tube defects, placental abruption, and pre-eclampsia.

Recently, I was reviewing the history of one of my clients*. She had three babies, all born prematurely at 30 weeks, 30 weeks, and 33 weeks, respectively*. Her first delivery had the further complication of a placental abruption. I asked her, “Have you been tested for MTHFR?” to which she promptly replied, “Yes, I am compound heterozygous."

In this woman’s case, she was diagnosed one year prior to her second pregnancy and began taking folate at that time. She also went gluten-free and stopped eating other grains, especially those enriched with folic acid. It didn’t seem to be enough to prevent her second premature delivery at 30 weeks, but at least she was spared a second placental abruption. Also, her daughter was in the hospital for three weeks fewer than her older brother. Finally, after some additional time of being on a healthy, folic acid-free diet, her third pregnancy lasted an additional critical three weeks.

The MTHFR gene can have either no mutations at all or a couple of them. These mutations are dubbed “variants.” The two most common variants are MTHFR C677T and MTHFR A1298C. Being compound heterozygous means that my client has one of each variant. There are many different combinations that can occur. Typically, the more variants, the more potential health problems.

As Billings teachers, it is important to be on the lookout for the signs of MTHFR variants in your clients when taking their history, especially if they are struggling to conceive or have had repetitive miscarriages. Other red flags include folate deficiency, autoimmune diseases, chronic anxiety or depression, and elevated homocysteine levels.

Testing may also be done simply, at home, by ordering a saliva test such as those from DNA testing companies. One example is 23andMe (www.23andme.com).

Another resource is Dr. Jose Fernandez, an NFP-only physician with JMJ Family Practice which has offices in Kissimmee and Melbourne, Florida. Dr. Fernandez routinely tests for the genetic defect when working with patients who have infertility or frequent miscarriages. “I've been ordering MTHFR in my practice for the last four to five  years. I was prompted to do this because of lectures I had heard detailing this genetic defect as possibly being involved in not only recurrent miscarriage, but infertility in general.”

How common is the defect? Dr. Fernandez says from his patient experience, he finds it in up to 40% of his patients. This number matches the estimates generally cited in the literature.

As Fernandez explains, “As we have long known, some birth defects are preventable by maintaining proper levels of folate and homocysteine. That is particularly important with women who have the MTHFR mutation. Replacement should occur by substituting folic acid supplements with those containing methyl folate or folinic acid instead.  Dosages can begin with 400 to 800 mcg up to 3 to 5 mg. When considering MTHFR genetic variants it is important to also take into consideration other genetic variants. This can become quite complex and either a patient or practitioner should consider consultation with someone well versed in this arena.”

Remember, no natural foods have folic acid in them. When occurring in nature, Vitamin B9 is in the form of folate. However, when artificially supplemented, it is often in the form of folic acid. The bottom line is that this is just another reason to eat wholesome, non-processed foods. Some foods which are naturally high in folate are legumes, asparagus, leafy greens, beans, eggs, beets, citrus fruit, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, nuts and seeds, bananas, avocados, and beef liver.

To reach Dr. Fernandez, call his office at (407) 935-9012 or visit his website: www.jmjfamilypractice.com.

* Note: The client has given permission for her story to be anonymously printed in this newsletter and website.

Dr. Mary Martin consults with Dr. James Brown during a WOOMB conference in Melbourne, Australia.

Q.  When did you first learn about the Billings Ovulation Method® and what was your next step?
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I believe I was first exposed to the Billings Ovulation Method in July of 1999. My 18-year civil marriage had ended in 1998. I sought out the advice of faithful priest, Fr. Jack Riley, who reassured me that I could not go back to the nonsacramental marriage as it was. I was long overdue for confession (it had been 13 years) and he said, "by the way, you're not prescribing contraceptives or performing sterilizations, are you?" Fr. Riley made it my penance to research whether oral contraceptives were potentially abortifacients. I already knew that they were, but lacked the courage and grace to act on the conviction until I attended several conferences which were designed to convince doctors like me that it was possible not to prescribe. Of course, the first physician I met was not an obstetrician, so I argued with him publicly at such an event and remained skeptical until I attended a Billings teacher training in St. Cloud, MN taught by Australian senior teachers Marian Corkill and Gillian Barker. As Marian and Gillian presented, light bulbs went off continuously, and I took advantage of the materials and resources available, including traveling to Melbourne, Australia. Traveling there for the next world Billings conference allowed me to meet Drs. John and Evelyn Billings themselves and Professor Jim Brown.

Q.  How did learning Billings impact your medical practice as a gynecologist?

Significantly, I had stopped prescribing contraception and performing sterilizations on March 1, 1999, but lacked a practical, simple method to recommend to patients as a substitute for contraception and sterilization. I was relying only on my residency training, which, while good, was comprised of "see and treat," without any attempt to determine the underlying problem which had created the symptoms. I've often said that learning the Billings Method made me a gynecologist. Soon, instead of being the radical feminist challenging poor Dr. Chris Kahlenborn at conferences (I subsequently apologized), I was the persistent questioner of reproductive endocrinologists in my own specialty, the guys who wrote the textbooks. It dawned on me, when I was told that my questions and methods were "archaic exercises in academic rigor," that perhaps grace was playing a larger role than any intelligence that I may have contributed.

Q.  Over the years, you met some of the great pioneers such as Drs. John and Lyn Billings, Dr. James Brown, and Dr. Erik Odeblad.  Tell us a bit about those experiences and a couple of the things you will never forget. 

I brought home Professor Jim Brown's Ovarian Monitor from my first Melbourne experience and relied on his personal guidance to perform the testing in my practice over the course of two years. I was fortunate to spend time alone with him on each of several visits to Australia. The time simply flew by as we excitedly queried each other and, bless his heart, Professor Brown always made it seem as if he were also learning something from me. On the last visit, he sat front row at my lecture, and subsequently, at our prescribed private meeting, said that he wished he had 20 more years to live, as he was sure that Pilar Vigil and I were really "on to something" with the role of insulin resistance and its effect on ovulation. Sadly, he predicted at that meeting, we were not likely to meet again on this sphere, given his advancing age. I am so grateful that he was the mentor who influenced me most.

I had contacted Erik Odeblad by fax or telephone, as I recall, and subsequently flew to Chicago to accompany him to the University of Illinois, where I had studied medicine. He planned to meet fellow Nobel nominee and recipient, Paul Lauterbur, PhD chemist. While both Odeblad and Lauterbur were nominated for their use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Professor Lauterbur had applied MRI widely in the field of medicine, while Erik had used the technique to study the structure and function of cervical mucus. Never was there more contrast between the two! While Erik was polite and extremely modest, Lauterbur, and his physician wife, whom I remembered had given the most boring, inane nutrition lectures in my first year of medical school, were pompous, obnoxious atheists. I had just heard of Professor Odeblad's difficulties with the Swedish Board of Medicine while on our drive from Chicago to Champaign-Urbana. His religious views against abortion and later contraception prevented him from practicing in Sweden as an obstetrician-gynecologist. Fortunately, for all of us, Dr. Odeblad brought his wife and family to California to earn his PhD at Stanford University. We flew on to Dallas, where Erik gave a detailed lecture on intracellular transport of manganese and the properties of cervical mucus. Professor Odeblad entrusted me to edit a scientific paper in English and rewarded me with contributing authorship.

Q. You have also become a friend and colleague of Dr. Pilar Vigil of Santiago, Chile, who will be our final presenter in our upcoming Medical Professionals Seminar webinar series in May. Tell us about how her protocols for helping women with fertility problems are different than what physicians in the United States use.

Pilar and I met in Melbourne and, having both been mentored by Brown and Odeblad, had much in common. Pilar is also an obstetrician-gynecologist, but earned a PhD in human reproduction, continued her studies in the US at the Texas Institute of Reproductive Medicine with Emil Steinberger, MD, and continues research as well as clinical practice. As founder of the Reproductive Health Research Institute, Professor Vigil and colleagues have consistently published in peer-review journals and have compiled protocols for the diagnosis and treatment of the underlying endocrine problems which lead to gynecologic problems, infertility, and recurrent pregnancy loss.

Q.  We hear that NaProTechology physicians use surgery to treat problems that you would not use surgery for. Please explain your approach and how it is different.

Professor Vigil is extensively published on the subject of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, which is caused by hyperandrogenism (excessive male hormones). NaProTechnology endorses surgical treatment of polycystic ovaries, which was abandoned by my specialty more than 30 years ago. Removing part of the ovary, as NaProTechnology recommends, in ovarian wedge resection, temporarily reduces androgen levels, but markedly reduces ovarian reserve and fails to correct the underlying endocrine reasons for hyperandrogenism. My specialty is still promulgating insulin resistance as the cause of PCOS. Whereas Professor Vigil has conclusively shown that insulin resistance is a feature of some, but not all PCOS, and that other endocrine causes, including hyperprolactinemia, hypercortisolemia, and acquired congenital adrenal hyperplasia are other causes.

Q. If a Billings teacher has a woman who needs a medical consultation, but is not able to travel to you, what is the process and fees for setting up a remote consultation with you? Is it helpful if they are charting using nfpcharting.com so you can see their chart?
 
Charts alone are rarely diagnostic, but the BIP and the lack of Peak are diagnostic clues. A combination of patient history, physical exam, laboratory values, and ultrasound are required for diagnosis. For those who are unable to travel to the office, telemedicine consults, nfpcharting.com, and labs can usually provide a diagnosis. As I have recently joined a primary care practice, and telemedicine is being rolled out on a new platform, telemedicine consults are on hold at the moment. I’ve had three infertility patients who I’ve worked with remotely conceive in the past 6 weeks. The protocols work.

Q. If you could meet with med students in their early phase of their education, what would you tell them?

Read and listen critically. Good training will instruct you on how to judge studies for bias. Remember that we are all products of our environments. Don't be afraid to ask the hard questions. Instead of just accepting the standard treatment of oral contraceptives to treat gynecologic problems, how about if we address the underlying cause and treat it?
 
Q. Finally, how do people contact you for consultations through your medical practice, Axis Healthcare?

The practice phone number is (918) 825-3777. I don't yet know the cost of the consultations. Axis Healthcare bills insurance.

Q. We appreciate that you’ve been an excellent resource. We are also grateful that you are one of our long time, faithful monthly donors.  What can we do to spread the word more effectively to your fellow physicians?

The science of the BOM sells itself. Keep up the good work in exposing physicians to the science!