Pockets of wonder vital in Billings Method

The Biennial Conference of the Billings Ovulation Method, held 29 April to 1 May in Preston, Melbourne, drew delegates from around the world including men who have chosen chastity and celibacy for life – six Catholic priests.
Forty-eight international delegates from 19 nations attended as did 74  Australian delegates.
They listened and discussed over several days the unique approach to female fertility and natural family planning, which began in Australia and which has now been officially adopted by countries facing significant population issues such as India and China.
The Billings Method is still not widely understood, even within the Catholic Church, but is considered to be the most accurate method known for achieving or avoiding conception in the world. It is also an Australian success story.
Beginning in the 1950s and building on the work of earlier scientists and contemporary colleagues, Melbourne couple Drs John and Evelyn Billings discovered and refined the remarkable approach based on the observable signs of female fertility.
The approach the couple developed to charting female fertility is now known almost universally simply as the ‘Billings Method’.
To the uninitiated some aspects of the conference could seem obscure; this year’s theme – Pockets of Wonder – focused on, among other subjects, the little-known but critical importance of the para-urethral pockets of Shaw in the whole cycle of female fertility.
The pockets of Shaw, named after Dr Wilfred Shaw, play an at-times critical role in absorbing a key indicator of fertility, vaginal mucus; their function can also be negatively affected by a history of contraceptive use.
Other highlights of the Conference were moving tributes to the late Professor James Boyer Brown – a New Zealand-born academic, who, among other achievements, revolutionised reproductive medicine by permitting accurate monitoring of ovarian activity.
Dr Jan Hemstad from Washington spoke on the current state of scientific research into the Billings Method.
An Oblate priest from Canada, Fr Joseph Hattie OMI, gave the Conference oration on how the Billings Method had enriched his own priesthood. Leading Australian bioethicist and theologian, Rev Dr John Fleming, spoke on Pockets of Wonder and Church Teaching with particular reference to magisterial documents such as Evangelium Vitae, Donum Vitae and Dignitatis Personae.
Reports from a number of international delegates shared some of the remarkable progress being achieved in spreading Billings Method news around the globe.
The Conference was followed by a series of training programmes on 2-5 May for new and experienced teachers of the Method and for teacher-trainers.
The Conference Mass was celebrated by six priests who were all delegates to the Conference – five of them were from overseas.
– photo courtesy of BillingsLife