Billings' work flourishes despite his passing.

Victoria -- The month of April, 2007, was a time of both sadness and joy for the World Organization Ovulation Method Billings (WOOMB), based in Victoria, Australia.

On April 1, Dr. John Billings, pioneer of the Billings Ovulation Method (BOM), passed away at the age of 89. With his wife, Dr. Evelyn Billings, he researched and refined the BOM over a period of more than 50 years. The respective spouses, who were a papal knight and dame, brought their method to over 100 countries--sometimes with help from Canadians.

As Gaudium et spes states, "there can be no contradiction between two divine laws--that which governs the transmitting of life and that which governs the fostering of married love." Methods such as the BOM are fruits of the Catholic Church. Dr. John's original investigations into fertility regulation were at the invitation of Melbourne's Catholic Marriage Guidance Bureau. Popes Pius XII and Paul VI both implored scientists and doctors to improve upon previous knowledge of natural rhythms in order to discover reliable means of natural fertility regulation. Pope Benedict XVI remembered Dr. John "with gratitude for his resolute commitment to the Gospel of Life" (www.woomb.org, April 4, 2007).

The Billings' international influence included official recognition and usage of the BOM in most provinces of China, where under the One Child Policy the destructive forced alternatives otherwise can involve abortifacient contraception and abortion. Thus, in the regions of China where the BOM is taught, the induced abortion rate has dropped sevenfold, to 0.61 percent (www.woomb.org/bom/chinareport.html).

Dr. John was remembered in multiple tributes at this year's international conference of the World Organisation of the Ovulation Method Billings (WOOMB), held in Melbourne April 27-29, 2007, on the theme of "Culture and the family throughout history." One such tribute was offered by WOOMB Canada's national spiritual director, Fr. Joseph Hattie, OMI--a longtime C.I. subscriber who had an instrumental role in the Billings' establishment in China. Also at the conference, a new generation of leadership for WOOMB was inaugurated, with a board of directors to replace the circle that once worked with the two Dr. Billings. Dr. Evelyn, 89, remains as an advisor, but is mostly retired.

As they honoured their pioneer, the conference attendees were delighted to hear news of the most recent study of the use of BOM to achieve pregnancy. In a group of 355 participants--207 of whom had been previously classified as infertile or sub-fertile--78 percent achieved pregnancy using the method.

The results of the study have not yet been accepted for publication in a professional health journal but were to have been reported in the newspaper, The Sunday Age. Senior teacher Marie Marshall worked closely with the assigned reporter, giving him access to the study, a photo opportunity, women who had achieved pregnancy with BOM, and doctors who were enthusiastic about the method. The story was suddenly pulled with only hours to go, and replaced with a stow telling how in-vitro fertilization doctors wished that people could achieve pregnancy by natural means. Prejudice prevailed.

The quest for knowledge about the BOM continues, however. In Canada, Dr. Rend Leiva has just received approval through the University of Ottawa for a new study on the use of BOM for achieving pregnancy and is now submitting his protocol to the ethics board. Dr. Leiva told Catholic Insight that, pending approval, he will recruit 20 local couples this fall for a six-month pilot comparison of the pregnancy rate between those couples using an expensive commercial ovulation monitor and those using the BOM. The study is meant to round out information about which of these two proven methods is the more reliable in helping couples achieve pregnancy.