Infertility can be a deeply challenging experience, touching every part of life. For many couples, the journey to conceive is filled with hope, disappointment, and questions about God’s plan, but you don’t have to face it alone. The Catholic Church of Philadelphia offers support, guidance, and resources rooted in Catholic teaching to help couples navigate this journey with hope, faith, and dignity.
Many married couples experience the pain of infertility, and while children are among the greatest blessings, not all methods of expanding one’s family are morally good. The USCCB offers resources that are available to help Catholics understand the Church’s teaching on marriage and the procreation of children and to provide support and guidance for married couples who are experiencing difficulty having children. View more information here.
Infertility & Bereavement Support
Springs in the Desert accompanies those struggling with infertility by offering a place of respite and solidarity where they can know God’s love for them and discover His unique call to fruitfulness. Firmly rooted in the anthropology, ethics and spirituality of the Catholic Church, and our shared experiences of infertility, Springs in the Desert affirms the goodness of marriage, upholds the giftedness of the child, and advocates for a broader understanding of what it means to be life-giving. Find support here.
Red Bird Ministries is a Catholic, pro-life/pro-family grief support ministry that focuses on bereaved families who have experienced child loss of any age and circumstance, including pregnancy loss through miscarriage and stillbirth, and after birth as an infant, child, adolescent, or adult. While we operate as Catholics our ministry serves anyone who has experienced the loss of a child. Find support here.
Restorative Reproductive Health Alternatives
NaProTECHNOLOGY (Natural Procreative Technology) is a Catholic-aligned medical approach for reproductive and gynecological health that works with the body’s natural cycles, unlike IVF, which the Church opposes because it separates procreation from the marital act and often involves embryo destruction. It uses fertility charting (like the Creighton Model) to identify underlying issues (infertility, cysts, PPD) and treat them, restoring natural fertility while respecting Catholic ethical principles and the dignity of life. Learn more and find a practitioner here!
The Gianna Center of Philadelphia is dedicated to providing general gynecologic care, natural family planning education and infertility services – all while honoring the sanctity of each human life, the dignity of women and the integrity of marriage. All medical treatments are aimed at restoring the reproductive system and work cooperatively with a woman’s body. Learn more here!
At Natural Women’s Health Dr. Ruberu and her team care about getting to the root cause of your gynecologic problems. We have no desire to cover up your symptoms with band-aids like contraceptives. In fact we never prescribe contraceptives. Instead we address women’s health issues including ovarian cysts, infertility, PMS, menstrual disorders, recurrent miscarriage, postpartum depression, estrogen dominance, low progesterone, hypothyroidism, hashimotos, and perimenopause by looking for the underlying dysfunction and solving it. Through the use of Napro Technology, Natural Family Planning charting methods and cleansing we can understand and address your medical challenges. Learn more here!
Fostering & Adoption Resources
Catholic Social Services of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia continues to help those with unexpected pregnancies choose life and make an adoption plan. Our adoption services allow birth parents to find support, children to find loving homes, and for families to expand. Adoption services through Catholic Social Services assist families seeking to expand their homes and hearts with the gift of adoption. Birth parents receive counseling and other supportive services, allowing them to explore and consider their options to make an informed decision about whether to place their child for adoption.
Adoption services have been provided to meet the needs of children and families for almost 100 years. Since our inception, we have successfully completed over 11,000 adoptions, and we eagerly look forward to continuing our historic mission through the work we do each and every day – bringing families together. Learn more here!
Springs of Love encourages, educates and equips Catholics to discern and live out the call to foster and adopt, while creating communities of support to help cultivate a culture of foster care and adoption in our parishes. Springs of Love hopes to convey both the beauty and the challenges of fostering and adoption with attention to such issues as adoption after infertility, the impact of trauma on children, parenting a special needs child, the adoption triad, navigating relationships with birth families, the language surrounding fostering and adopting, the role of the Church in caring for children in need of parents, and more. Learn more here!