An incredible gift, and more to come for women

The nondescript, white business envelope – with no return address – came in the mail to Elise and Will Bennett’s house in Mandeville just before Mother’s Day.

It was the kind of plain envelope that most people in a hurry, standing near the kitchen garbage can, might simply drop into File 13 without even looking inside.

“I was ready to throw it away,” Elise said. “We see stuff like that all the time, like it’s promotional material.”

But there was something about the envelope that prompted Elise, 28, to open it. It wasn’t just that her name was typed on the outside.

When she opened it and pulled out the contents, there was a plain sheet of white paper, folded around two U.S. Postal Service money orders.

The letter, like the envelope, was unsigned. The author wrote one sentence that will forever let Elise and Will know that God, the author of life, exists: “May this help cover any costs for your upcoming surgery, so that you may rejoice next Mother’s Day.”

Elise and Will will be married for four years on June 18. From the time they were married at Our Lady of the Lake Church in Mandeville, they have been trying, without success, to conceive.

Their longing for a child has led them to Dr. Thomas Hilgers in Omaha, Neb., whose landmark Creighton Model Fertility Care System and NaPro Technology have given hope to thousands of couples seeking to unlock their fertility in a way that does not involve in vitro fertilization.

Elise is a wedding photographer by trade – and she has photographed brides and then, a year or two later, taken cheery pictures of their newborns. They are freeze frames of the family she would give anything to experience herself.

“I can honestly say – and I’m not being cliche – but I’ve been at some bad points,” Elise said. “I’ve had panic attacks on Mother’s Day. I’ve been angry at points, and I’ve cried. At times, I’ve come to the point where you just have to accept.

“I truly believe, if I didn’t have my husband, I would have been a mess. But I ultimately believe, that if a man and woman are strong, you can get through anything. I didn’t marry my future children – I married my husband. Ultimately, I know God has a plan in our suffering.”

Fertility struggles endured by couples such as Elise and Will have created a need for the church to respond. Within the last several months – moving seemingly at warp speed – the nonprofit Gianna Center of the Gulf South has won approval from Archbishop Gregory Aymond to
promote fertility education through an office at the North Shore Pastoral Center in Covington.

There are five Gianna Centers in the U.S. right now – all in the northeast – said Laura Kiper, a former registered nurse who went to Archbishop Aymond seeking his approval for the new center.

Kiper, who saw some incredibly depressing things when she worked as a labor and delivery nurse, first heard about the Gianna Center in November.

In December, she spoke with a fourth-year LSU medical student, Brad Fossier, whom she had discovered had an interest in offering NaPro Technology in Louisiana after he completes his four-year residency.

Then, in January, Kiper connected with John Schembre, a local pharmacist, and then she followed up the next month with the founder of original Gianna Center.

Kiper was told it might take one to two years to get the nonprofit status approved for her new center. “It took three days,” Kiper said.

While the center is fund-raising to build a stand-alone clinic, it hopes to offer education in the Creighton Fertility System in the near future.

“My goal in creating a center like this is to streamline the process, especially for women going through infertility,” Kiper said. “It’s hard enough for women going through this and then having to put all the pieces together. They may just give in to the in vitro procedure. What I love about this is that it is natural, affordable and really upholds the dignity of my husband and me.”

The center is exactly what is needed for couples such as Elise and Will, who yearn for nothing more than holding their own child. For now, holding the plain white piece of paper – the one with one sentence – is hope enough.

“I’m trying to play Nancy Drew, but really, I was just overwhelmed,” Elise said. “It’s not even about the money. It’s that they thought enough that they wanted me to have it on Mother’s Day. That took a lot of compassion and empathy.”

Peter Finney Jr. can be reached at [email protected].