Renee Mirkes has good news for couples who suffer from infertility: treatment is available that upholds their dignity and the dignity of the children they desire.

That treatment, called NaPro TECHNOLOGY, was the main topic of discussion at an October 07 Health Care Ethics Day in IL. The gathering featured two keynote talks by Mirkes, who is director of the Center for NaProEthics in Omaha, NE.

About 90 people -- including physicians, administrators, nurses, pastoral care workers, pastors and teachers -- attended the ethics seminar. The event also included small group and panel discussions on ethical questions pertaining to infertility treatment.

The [speakers stressed that the] foundation of medical ethics must be the inherent dignity of the human person.

In her talks, Mirkes presented a detailed clinical explanation of Artificial Reproductive Technology (ART) and contrasted it with NPT.

NaPro TECHNOLOGY, or NPT, was developed by Dr. Thomas Hilgers. More than 1,000 physicians have been trained in Dr. Hilgers’ system, which incorporates the Creighton Model of natural family planning to help couples chart the wife’s monthly cycle.

"It’s much more than family planning," said Paul Kortz, president of the American Academy of FertilityCare Professionals. Kortz teaches the Creighton Model and NPT through the FertilityCare Center in Peoria.

Building on the Creighton Model, NPT has been developed to become a whole system of naturally helping couples conceive and to treat fertility issues, said Kortz. Charting the woman’s cycle helps to diagnose causes of infertility and identifies when the wife will be most likely to conceive, he said.
[TCP, 4Nov20-7, Morton, IL]