FACTS Ambassador Feature
Becoming a FACTS Medical Student Ambassador: A Life-Changing Experience
By: Sarah Makarewicz
Director’s Note: This month, we are featuring a two part testimony written by Canadian medical student and FACTS Ambassador Sarah Makarewicz. For Sarah, joining FACTS as an ambassador has been a “life-changing experience.” In this blog post, she reflects on her journey to FACTS, from learning about the menstrual cycle and birth control as a teen to charting as a young adult, and now to using fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) in her marriage. Learning about FACTS has strengthened her convictions and provided her a path for the future as she pursues her goal of becoming a family physician. Stay tuned on Tuesday for Part 2 of her story! Interested in learning more about becoming an ambassador? Whether you are a healthcare student, a resident, or a medical professional early in practice, we have the perfect program to support you! Join our Student and Resident Ambassador programs today.
Part 1
Early Beginnings: Biology Class and Frustrations with Hormonal Birth Control
My journey with fertility awareness-based methods (FABMs) began as a teenager, learning about the female reproductive system and the menstrual cycle in high school biology class. I was fascinated by the rise and fall of the hormones during the cycle and the intricate communication between the pituitary gland and the ovaries. I fell in love with the beauty of this system and was passionate to learn more.
“I was fascinated by the rise and fall of the hormones during the cycle and the intricate communication between the pituitary gland and the ovaries (and) I fell in love with the beauty of this system.”
After that lesson, I remember discussing what I learned with my mother, a former biology teacher. She introduced me to cycle charting, explaining that I could use the signs of my body to identify low and high fertility.
My mother also taught me how to advocate for the legitimacy of FABMs. When OBGYNs asked my mom about her method of birth control, she said she was often dismissed after sharing her personal convictions of not wanting synthetic hormones in her body; one doctor even wrote on her chart, “uses no birth control method.” When I was a teenager, I sought care from my family doctor to address my bad acne and painful periods, but I was only offered birth control pills. My mother helped me advocate for myself and then my doctor offered stronger anti-inflammatories as an alternative.
It can be disheartening that many doctors automatically offer hormonal birth control to regulate the cycle or address menstrual symptoms. It highlights the need for more physicians to understand the applications of FABMs and have tools that address the root cause of menstrual problems. I am grateful for my mother’s advocacy because it allowed my body to mature, my hormones to self-regulate, and pursue treatment avenues that didn’t suppress my cycle.
Learning About FABMs: Cycle Tracking, Marriage, and Medical School
About five years later, in my third year as an undergraduate, I wrote a research paper on hormonal contraception for a bioethics class. I was struck by the way that hormonal birth control medicalizes a woman’s fertility; the implication is that her fertility is a disease that needs to be treated, not a natural part of her physiology that can be understood and respected. I learned about the different fertility signs that could be tracked and charted during the cycle; I discovered that FABMs had similar effectiveness rates for preventing pregnancy compared to hormonal birth control, yet FABMs are completely natural and side-effect free. So many women prioritize eating organic food without additives or hormones yet turn a blind eye when taking daily birth control without considering the consequences or never having even heard about natural alternatives like FABMs. After learning the truth about FABMs through my research, my passion for women’s health grew, and I sought out further learning opportunities.
“I was struck by the way that hormonal birth control medicalizes a woman’s fertility; the implication is that her fertility is a disease that needs to be treated, not a natural part of her physiology that can be understood and respected.”
In January 2021, I decided to invest the time and money to learn the Marquette Method with a local instructor. As a busy young woman, checking a morning urine test for 10 to 15 days of my cycle was an easy way to learn charting and gain a basic understanding of my hormones. Next, I learned the Billings Ovulation Method, which introduced me to mucus patterns, another important fertility biomarker.
During my second year of medical school in 2022, my class had lectures on reproductive health with one specific lecture focusing on contraception. In this lecture, there was a single slide about “Natural Methods” and “Fertility Awareness,” which had two bullet points on the Sympto-Thermal Method, and one sentence on the “Calendar/Rhythm” method. While I appreciated that some information was provided, my heart sank when the failure rate for all FABMs was stated to be 24%, because I knew this was very wrong. My own experience with FABMs has been a testament to their efficacy.
Since getting married in July 2022, my husband and I have been using the Marquette Method to successfully delay pregnancy. I am proud to share this fact with my classmates to dispel the misconception that FABMs are ineffective. Furthermore, using FABMs in our marriage has strengthened our communication, taught us self-mastery and intentionality, and invited us to respect the gift of our fertility.
“Using FABMs in our marriage has strengthened our communication, taught us self-mastery and intentionality, and invited us to respect the gift of our fertility.”
Given my own experiences with FABMs, undergrad research, and Marquette and Billings courses, I was incredibly frustrated by the lack of information available about these methods in my medical school lecture. However, at that point, I didn’t feel brave enough to approach my professor and engage in a conversation about this topic. Nevertheless, I experienced cognitive dissonance due to my strong conviction about FABMs’ effectiveness. Discouraged by the medical community’s disdainful view of natural fertility methods, I began searching the internet to find some group or organization that supported my approach and could teach me more.
Be sure to stay tuned for Part 2 of Sarah’s story coming this Thursday!
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sarah Makarewicz
Sarah Makarewicz is a 3rd Year MD student at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. After attending FACTS’s September 2023 conference in Minneapolis, she was inspired to join FACTS as a Medical Student Ambassador. In November 2024, she plans to complete FACTS’s 4-week medical school elective and hopes to begin the Marquette Method Medical Consultant training in early 2025. Her career dreams include pursuing a Family Medicine residency with specialized training in low-risk obstetrics, lactation, and restorative reproductive medicine (RRM).
