April 6, 2018 at 1:53 p.m.
CLINIC PLANNED
Catholic doc to teach and treat women with fertility issues
Later, as medical director of a charity clinic, she chose not to see patients in the women's health section.
With her newest vocation, Dr. Patterson won't have to worry about reconciling her profession with her conscience: She's spearheading the formation of a Capital Region women's medical clinic that will treat gynecological problems and help patients postpone or achieve pregnancy - without the use of methods inconsistent with Catholic teaching.
The pro-life venture, PerpetuaLife Care, will use emerging technology that monitors women's menstrual cycles and uses biological markers to treat infertility, repetitive miscarriages, polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, menstrual disorders, hormonal abnormalities, postpartum depression and other medical conditions.
More than 100 similar clinics exist throughout the U.S., but the closest one to the Albany Diocese is three hours away. A location for a local clinic has not yet been selected.
'Lot of misery'
"I see a lot of misery [in] a lot of women who just have no choice right now as far as health care," Dr. Patterson said, adding that women dealing with infertility "have nowhere to turn, basically, if they don't want to do in vitro fertilization."
A doctor for 25 years and a mother of six children, Dr. Patterson trained with Dr. Thomas Hilgers, director of the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in Omaha, Neb., and the founder of Natural Procreative Technology (NaProTECHNOLOGY). Dr. Patterson teaches fertility awareness methods at St. John the Evangelist parish in Schenectady and addresses priest and deanery groups on the topic throughout the Diocese.
One of her clients couldn't get an answer from other doctors about her pregnancy losses; tracking her menstrual cycles unearthed the root of the problem, and she's now pregnant.
Emily Sederstrand, one of PerpetuaLife Care's nine board members, hears similar stories as an instructor with Hudson-Mohawk Natural Family Planning, which she started with her husband and another couple in 2007 (see previous story at www.evangelist.org).
"We are encountering women week after week" who recount such problems, she said. "Diagnosing and healing women has become a lost art after the advent of the birth control pill."
She noted that birth control pills don't necessarily resolve health issues and can lower fertility and lead to other complications.
Other services
In addition to the planned clinic, PerpetuaLife Care will assist women suffering because of crisis pregnancies, post-abortion grief, infertility and more. A chart provided by PerpetuaLife Care states that it will also sponsor programs that educate and evangelize about the "gift of fertility, the dignity of the body, the blessings of children and the meaning of the marital embrace."
"Fertility is central to our personhood," said Mrs. Sederstrand, whose discovery of the 1968 "Humanae Vitae" papal encyclical on life issues inspired her return to the Church and reversed her decision to abstain from having children. "I feel that it's a basic human right for everyone to know their fertility."
Dr. Patterson got the ball rolling to start a clinic in her native Austin, Texas, during the last decade; she relocated to the Albany Diocese about five years ago and contacted Mrs. Sederstrand, who was working for a crisis pregnancy center and writing for the non-profit organization One More Soul.
Group effort
A group started meeting in 2011 to plan a clinic and now includes a deacon who's an expert on the Theology of the Body (Pope John Paul II's perspective on sexuality), two Natural Family Planning instructors, a nurse, a catechist, a health educator and a crisis pregnancy worker. Building on the work of a doctor who taught NFP at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany in the 1970s, the group named their startup after Our Lady of Perpetual Help and St. Perpetua, who was a nursing mother at the time of her martyrdom. The group has received approval from Bishop Howard J. Hubbard and is in negotiation to receive financial support from St. Peter's Healthcare System in New Brunswick, N.J., which is working to create a network of pro-life clinics along the East Coast.
Dr. Patterson may soon be granted space in a local family medicine office to start practicing NaProTECHNOLOGY. She recently received approval from FertilityCare Centers of America to establish Lily of the Mohawks Fertility Care, which will enable her to offer teaching sessions in churches, medical offices and the forthcoming clinic for women on how to chart their cycles.
The organizers hope their efforts will "be a big encouragement to Catholic priests and Catholic doctors and women of all faiths," Mrs. Sederstrand said.
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