Luke McLindon writes as a father, husband and doctor caring for the fertility needs of infertile couples.
My wife and I gaze down at the sleeping beauty of our recently born daughter, Clare Maree – we are richly blessed.
We have been touched again by the angels. We have participated in the co-creative power of marriage, in love and life, under the under the ever-loving gaze of a Trinitarian God.
A child – the greatest gift, and greatest responsibility. While Madonna and I nurture our seven children within our domestic church, the agony of many couples who are childless is ever present in our life.
Our vocation as a couple has been to work for couples who are unable to bear children.
Subfertility and repetitive miscarriages within a relationship can be hard to bear, too hard for some. We are all called to be with, listen and walk alongside those who suffer.
Many dedicated people have worked tirelessly in the field of fertility awareness to bring good science to those couples who suffer infertility. With a more complete understanding of the fertile life within a relationship, the charting of such changes and focussed medical investigations and treatment couples are being given underlying reasons and treatment options for their difficulty. The results are encouraging.
The John Paul II Institute for Marriage and Family in Melbourne recently organised a National Fertility Conference, which momentously brought together all the dedicated teams working to better understand fertility.
Such collaboration leads us to better grasp the underlying issues that can lead to fertility problems, and ultimately allow us all access to scientifically valid and accessible solutions.
With guest speakers from Ireland, Switzerland and Canada and participants from across Oceania there was sharing of latest research and approaches that will benefit couples struggling with childlessness.
Dr Robert Walley, of Canada, from MaterCare International talked of a ‘Theology of Motherhood’ – a depth of life in God, the creator of all life, only mothers can experience.
Certainly mothers in all their circumstances – of children, of grandchildren, by desire, of a devastating loss or multiple losses – are a powerful witness to a life in the spirit of love.
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