I am a recently married man, and my wife and I are quite quite poor. As such, we cannot afford to have children at this time. But... our faith teaches that artificial birth control is bad. So how are we supposed to do that thing married people do and not go completely bankrupt by having a child every time? Natural Family Planning.

It's a topic I don't think gets discussed enough, which is the main reason I wanted to start one. I know I didn't know that much about it until later in my life, and from talking with other people, that seems to be the norm. Nobody knows about it. So I just wanted to start this thread to get a general discussion going, where people could ask questions (of me and each other) about this wonderful way to both a) postpone pregnancy until a more financially stable time and b) enhance your marriage in a way you never thought possible.

I am by no means a natural family planning expert; I cannot teach the method. There are actual certified people for that. But I can provide information and support to the curious, because my wife and I have been practicing NFP for our entire marriage (all eleven months of it) and have successfully avoided pregnancy through it all, while maintaining a healthy (gulp) sex life. Whew, there I said it in a forum... So if you have ever wondered what it is or what it entails, that's what this is for!

Also, if anybody else out there does it, I'd love to hear your stories about NFP, both joys and struggles. I know they are both a part of it!