The Catholic Infertility Conference

Director of Communications Becket Ghioto and his wife, Christina, initiated and organized the event. The Ghiotos have first-hand experience in this area: married for nearly nine years, they have not yet been blessed with children, despite ongoing efforts. “We’ve talked with priests about it, gone to see various kinds of doctors,” Becket explains.

On joining a Catholic women’s support group, Christina found deep needs on many levels. “What I found,” she shares, “was a lot of people who were just really hurting and wounded and feeling forgotten, lonely, and also not really sure what their place is in the Church.” In many cases their cross is both spiritual, as God apparently denies them their deep desire, and social, as they often find themselves left out when families with children come together.

Suffering in a Way that Leads Us to God

Thus, a major goal of the conference is to help couples find healing, to shed light on “how to suffer in a way that leads them closer to God rather than further away,” as Christina says. Attendees will hear testimonies from other Catholics who have walked this journey of infertility for many years: Dr. Daniel and Lucy McClure and Bobby and Christi Aborn. Dr. McClure, a psychologist in the Twin Cities, brings professional as well as personal insight into the suffering of infertility.

Other speakers include Dr. Madeleine Guevara, DO, to speak on the medical aspects of the issue, and Fr. Boniface Hicks, OSB, on pastoral care. Priests, religious, and any involved in pastoral ministry are encouraged to come and learn. “I imagine it’s difficult for priests to minister to the spectrum of people in their flock,” says Becket. “I would say it may be difficult for them to keep the minority in mind.” For instance, priests and other Church leaders widely recognize the importance of affirming and celebrating motherhood and fatherhood. It can be challenging, however, to balance this with compassionate, sensitive outreach toward families experiencing infertility.

Biblical and Saintly Precedents

God’s special regard for those carrying this cross is a theme going far back in salvation history. Becket notes the example of Abraham and Sarah, who had no children until their old age. Others singled out for divine favors after years of infertility include Isaac and Rebecca, Jacob and Rachel, the mother of Samson, Samuel’s mother Hannah, and in the New Testament, Elizabeth and Zechariah. According to tradition, Joachim and Anne, parents of Our Lady, belong to this list as well. “Sing, O barren one, who did not bear; break forth into singing and cry aloud, you who have not been in travail!” (Is 54:1) Over the years, saints with special patronage in this area, whether for their lives or for their miracles, have grown to a substantial number, as described by Emily Stimpson Chapman at the National Catholic Register.

Our Lady of Guadalupe’s Maternal Heart

Our Lady of Guadalupe, too, is a friend and helper to these families, not only as Patroness of the Unborn but by virtue of her promise to Saint Juan Diego to “hear their cry, their sadness, in order to remedy, to cure all their various troubles.” Every soul in pain is a child in need for whom she came. Christina, too, feels Our Lady’s hand and heart at work, particularly in the conference: “This is really something that Our Lady wanted … she really has a heart for this group that’s suffering.” May the Catholic Infertility Conference be an expression of Our Lady’s maternal heart for all who experience it, a sign to the suffering that they are never forgotten, they have an essential place, and they are perfectly loved.