What is ‘allowed’ to improve fertility and the chances of conceiving?

• Charting of a woman’s cycle to identify her fertile window (Natural Family Planning/NFP)
• Blood tests, ultrasounds, examinations to determine if there are underlying causes for infertility
• Surgeries to rectify issues such as endometriosis or fibroids
• Hormone supplements and vitamins to improve fertility of either spouse, including injections and ovulation boosters such as Clomid

What is not in accord with Church teaching?

• In Vitro Fertilisation (IVF)
• Obtaining semen samples for testing outside of marital intercourse
• Freezing eggs for future use in IVF

Why does the Church teach this?

While children are a good of marriage, IVF and other treatments involving illicit means of obtaining semen for the purposes of achieving pregnancy actually disrupt the other two goods of marriage (sacramentum and fides) by separating proles from the marital act and the one flesh union of the couple. This can in some instances lead to the disintegration of relationships, rather than the building up of the marriage. The evidence of this being the number of couples who divorce after undergoing IVF treatments. 

The means chosen must reflect the dignity of the human person within the context of marriage and family life, promote openness to life, and recognise the value of the child. They must respect the love-giving and life-giving nature of marriage, and enrich the bond between husband and wife.

Seeking Medical Help

There are many factors which can influence fertility. These might include: insufficient progesterone or HCG; insulin resistance (especially if you have had gestational diabetes during a previous pregnancy); genetic anomalies; folate deficiencies; autoimmune issues; hormonal imbalances; structural anomalies; low sperm or egg counts; egg quality (especially for older women); Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS); endometriosis; abnormal structure of the uterus or positioning of the ovaries; scarring of the fallopian tubes. Physicians trained in NaProTechnology (https://fccau.org/find-a-centre) can help guide couples through various morally acceptable diagnostic tests and treatments. If you are not already doing so, recording each day your fertility indicators can be a useful way of seeing if everything is working normally- is there any mucus (describe it)? Were you dry? Was there any bleeding? What colour was it- red, pink, brown? How much of the day did you see the most fertile sign? Methods such as Creighton, Billings, Symptothermal can help you do this. These methods are about learning your own fertility cycle so that you can optimise conception. 

If there is no NaPro practitioner near you then GPs can check many of these things if you ask. Tests that could indicate some issue include:

• Complete Blood Count (CBC)
• Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP)
• Glucose tolerance test with insulin testing
• Day 3 of cycle estradiol; progesterone; DHEA (precursor hormone) testing
• Peak day plus 7 estradiol and progesterone
• Peak +3, 5, 7, 9, 11 progesterone
• Ultrasounds of the ovaries, uterus and vagina to look for anomalies, cysts and to track follicle development
• Thyroid and liver health
• Sex Binding Hormone Globulin (SBHG)
• Vitamin D
• Vitamin B

In the case of miscarriage, if you have had two or more miscarriages, you and your husband may be entitled to genetic testing to look for genetic anomalies which may be related to your miscarriages. There may be a small charge for this test. Your GP can arrange this for you. The regulations in Australia have just changed so that the miscarriages do not have to be concurrent to receive this testing.