NFP Awareness Week set for July 19-25, 2026
WASHINGTON, D.C. — “Natural Family Planning, Designed by God, Guided by Love, Open to Life” is the theme of this year’s national Natural Family Planning Awareness Week (July 19-25, 2026), an educational campaign of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to celebrate God’s design for married love and the gift of life and to raise awareness of Natural Family Planning (NFP) methods.
“NFP,” as the U.S. bishops have written, is supportive of Catholic beliefs about married love because it “respects the God-given power to love a new human life into being” (“Married Love and the Gift of Life”).
NFP research reveals that married couples who practice a method of NFP reap many spiritual and human benefits such as improved couple communication; lower divorce rates; and more openness to life. In addition, a woman can gain a deeper knowledge of her reproductive health when charting her fertility. This information can be used by physicians to catch root causes of negative issues that may harm a woman’s fertility.
The dates of Natural Family Planning Awareness Week highlight the anniversary of “Humanae vitae” (July 25), the papal encyclical that beautifully teaches about married love and the gift of life and the ethical methods of NFP that support its use in marriage.
— USCCB
LEARN MORE: https://charlottediocese.org/faith-life/marriage-family-and-life/natural-family-planning
USCCB’s NFP Awareness Week highlights timeless truth with creative approaches
When the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops first considered holding an annual educational campaign on natural family planning, there was some debate over the best timing for it. Ultimately, the bishops settled on July 25, the anniversary of the 1968 encyclical “Humanae Vitae,“ in which St. Paul VI articulated Catholic teaching on artificial contraception, human sexuality, marital love and parenthood.
Now, 24 years after the USCCB’s first Natural Family Planning Awareness Week in 2002, Theresa Notare, assistant director for the NFP program in the USCCB's Secretariat of Laity, Marriage, Family Life and Youth, said that while the weeklong effort has developed over the years, it remains important. The 2026 National NFP Awareness Week is July 19-25.
Notare said NFP methods offer “an ethical means to live out the Gospel.“
“Sadly, the world does not know how valuable these methods are” and how they “can really strengthen a marriage,” she said.
Natural family planning encompasses several methods that use biomarkers in the woman's fertility cycle to help couples achieve or postpone pregnancy.
“All of this is deeply rooted into how God made men and women in His image and likeness,” Notare said. “We have a capacity to love just like God. We are not ourselves unless we give of ourselves to each other. The Church's social doctrine and moral teachings about the proper use of human sexuality is so foundational to who we are.”
She noted that modern pressures often impact couples' decisions about how large a family to have, or whether to have children at all.
NFP methods are important because “they don't harm human sexuality as God designed it,” Notare said. “They don't harm fertility.”
She added that there is “emotional growth and maturity, as well as spiritual growth and maturity, when couples actually work together to live with the gifts that God gave them, to live with their fertility as a gift, rather than suppressing it or keeping the Lord out of their sexual relationship.”
She said that dioceses celebrate National NFP Awareness Week in a variety of ways, ranging from “offering one-day conferences to family picnics to a Mass of celebration with families attending.”
The Diocese of Charlotte offers information about NFP online here: https://charlottediocese.org/faith-life/marriage-family-and-life/natural-family-planning
Notare said one major change she has noted after the COVID-19 pandemic is that many dioceses have moved celebrations online, opting for webinars and virtual prayer services.
She said that some couples use NFP as an approach to addressing infertility, and some parishes offer prayer services during National NFP Awareness Week for couples hoping to conceive a child.
The USCCB offers suggestions for parishes, dioceses and individuals to observe the week including educational billboard campaigns, homily notes for pastors to approach the topic sensitively and NFP parish mission ideas.
Notare believes the USCCB's National NFP Awareness Week theme – “designed by God, guided by love, open to life” – beautifully captures the theology behind the week.
“Natural family planning is designed by God because it's rooted in the body,” she explained, “and marriage, of course, is rooted in the image and likeness of God, of how we're made to be gifts to each other and the body has a spousal meaning. So it's designed by God, guided by love – of course, the love of the spouses for each other, and of course, the love of God for us, who first loved us -- and then open to life.”
Some parishes plan to offer educational talks during NFP week, in part to dispel misconceptions around the topic and the methods. Notare said that the most common misconception is that NFP is “guesswork” and “doesn't work.”
“Natural family planning methods … are based on teaching a woman to identify her biomarkers of fertility,” she said.
She noted the three main NFP approaches: cervical mucus (or ovulation) methods, which tracks when cervical mucus is most conducive to conception; sympto-thermal methods, which look to basal body temperature as well as cervical mucus and other biomarkers; and sympto-hormonal methods, which adds another biomarker: the detection of reproductive hormones in the urine.
She said people do not realize that NFP is reliable, “very doable” and even easier today with apps such as FEMM that make it simpler for a woman to track her fertility cycle.
Notare called National NFP Awareness Week the “tip of the iceberg” of deep reflection and teaching from the Church on how “the goods of marriage are the conjugal union and having children.” Her prayer is that people will learn more about these teachings and embrace them.
— Lauretta Brown, OSV News
Does diet impact Natural Family Planning? The latest science says yes
CHARLOTTE — When Catholics think about Natural Family Planning (NFP), scientific, natural and moral methods of planning a pregnancy are what typically come to mind. During National NFP Awareness Week (July 19-25), an annual campaign by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, it’s good to note that NFP resources can also help couples prepare for a healthy pregnancy.
Amanda Rohwedder, M.S., is a Charlotte-based nutritionist who founded Temple and Table in 2017 to evangelize through nutrition. As part of that ministry, she guides women to optimize nutrition for the phases of their menstrual cycles. She shared her insights on food trends and the connection between food and fertility with the Catholic News Herald.
“In recent years, there has been a rising interest in fertility nutrition,” Rohwedder said. “Increased research in the field has linked diet quality, for both men and women, with fertility. Fertility-supportive recipes and fertility-supportive foods have been in higher demand.”
The science-backed foundation
“Research consistently shows the benefits of following a balanced diet based on whole foods,” she said.
A balanced diet includes vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats and moderate protein to support female and male fertility, according to a study on “The Influence of Diet on Fertility and the Implications for Public Health Nutrition in the United States” published in Frontiers in Public Health.
Diets high in processed foods, including refined carbohydrates, added sugars and trans fats, were associated with reduced fertility, according to a study on “How Food Choices Impact on Male Fertility” in the medical journal Current Nutrition Reports.
Key nutrients that optimize fertility include folate – or folic acid – iron, healthy fats such as omega-3 fatty acids and complex carbohydrates, Rohwedder said.
Folate is essential for healthy ovulation and fetal development and is found in dark leafy greens, legumes and fortified grains. Iron has been shown to lower the risk of ovulatory infertility. Omega-3 fatty acids, found in fish, nuts and seeds, support hormone regulation and sperm health. Complex carbohydrates are good sources of fiber, which helps support stable blood sugar and hormone balance.
Does marketing matter?
“The uptick in interest around fertility nutrition and emerging research has impacted how food is marketed and produced,” she said. “It is much more common to see foods marketed for hormone balance and fertility support, especially in convenience foods like snacks, bars and smoothie drinks. Men are also being marketed to in the ‘fertility-supportive’ foods category.”
New products containing ingredients with healthy fats, such as nut and seed bars, seeded breads and chia pudding are gaining popularity. Others are highlighting hormone-healthy micronutrients such as zinc and selenium on their packaging.
Rather than following trends, Rohwedder advocates focusing on a balanced, whole-food diet, meaning lots of fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, healthy fats and adequate protein.
“We are seeing a trend towards products marketed for hormone balance or fertility support, which may mirror nutrients shown to support fertility and therefore suggest value, but these are best viewed as complements not replacements of whole foods,” she said. “Always check ingredient labels for additives and preservatives.”
Rohwedder also recommended exercising caution around plant-based meat substitutes as protein sources, as these products can be highly processed. She reiterated, “Choose whole foods whenever possible.”
Fertility is complex: diet is just one piece of the puzzle, along with age, activity level, environment and medical history, to name a few.
“While diet is not a silver bullet,” she notes, “it is an important factor that is in your control. It is especially effective when combined with other healthy lifestyle habits like adequate sleep, hydration and daily physical activity.”
— Amanda Rohwedder and Catholic News Herald