Full-spectrum reproductive and generative care for all seasons of life using herbal medicine, functional nutrition, and the power of the menstrual cycle

The dictionary definition of “generative” is: the power or function of generating, originating, producing, or reproducing.

However, the meaning of “generative” goes beyond reproduction.

In its modern use, the word “generative” is an inclusive term that is used in lieu of “reproductive” to include folks who use their sex organs for reasons other than making babies. In its esoteric meaning, “generative” encompasses the energetic aspects of our sex organs which hold experience, creativity and our life force.

The Fertility Awareness Method is simply observing and charting your body's unique and natural fertility biomarkers—cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and, optionally, cervical position—to determine when you are fertile or not. You can then use that information to either avoid pregnancy, increase your chances of getting pregnant, or to monitor your hormonal and reproductive health.

As a FAM Practitioner, I teach the SymptoThermal Method of FAM.

A vital sign is a bodily response you can measure to see how your body is functioning. The four most commonly used vital signs are heart rate, body temperature, respiratory rate, and blood pressure.

Your menstrual cycle is not simply about fertility. It is a vital sign that responds to stress and illness and relays information back to you about your overall health. When you're healthy, your period will arrive smoothly, regularly, and without symptoms. And when you're unhealthy in some way, whether you have the cold/flu or have some serious underlying health condition, your cycle will tell the story. This is your “fifth vital sign” in action!

“Body literacy” is simply learning to read and understand the language of the body.

Our bodies have their own unique “language” in which we can develop literacy in. By engaging in the practices of the Fertility Awareness Method, we learn to observe, chart, and interpret our unique biomarkers — our body’s language — on a daily basis. Overtime, we can discern the patterns and nuances of our unique hormonal rhythms, how and why our periods manifest in the way they do, and understand the cyclic nature of our emotional bodies. We may also then take the objective data on our charts and use that to help us make an informed and empowered decision about our reproductive and sexual health.

FAM can be used as a tool to increase your chances of conception because it allows you to track your physical signs of ovulation, also known as your “fertility biomarkers” — cervical mucus, basal body temperature (BBT), and optionally your cervical position.

Observing and charting these fertility biomarkers can help you assess vital aspects of your fertility such as:

💫 determining when your fertile window begins and ends, so you can time conception accurately

💫 when and if you ovulate (ovulation is needed for fertilization to happen). we can then examine possible root causes if you are not having ovulatory cycles.

💫 assessing your overall hormonal health. We can see what’s going on with your thyroid, estrogen, and progesterone hormones. Hormonal imbalances are often obstacles to fertility.

💫 deepening your hormonal and body literacy

Yes! A clinical trial conducted in 2007 (based on 900 women over the course of 17,638 menstrual cycles over 20 years) has shown that the SymptoThermal method of FAM has a:

👉🏽 perfect use effectiveness rate of up to 99.6% in preventing pregnancy and a

👉🏽 perfect use failure rate of just 0.6%.

Compare that to the 0.3% perfect use failure rate* of the pill!

When used correctly, FAM can be just as effective as the pill! You can significantly decrease your failure rate by working with a certified Fertility Awareness Educator or FAM Practitioner to accurately chart your cycles.

*Contraception failure rate is the percentage of couples who experience an accidental pregnancy during one year of use. It is expressed as perfect use and typical use.