Family of the Americas

One never truly knows the direction their life will take. Certainly we all have desires and wishes of what we would like to accomplish in our lives. As a young woman, Mercedes Wilson never dreamed that she would spend her adult life teaching and promoting Natural Family Planning.

Mercedes Wilson learned The Ovulation Method in Melbourne, Australia in 1968 by working directly with Drs. John and Evelyn Billings. After having two cesareans , Mercedes Wilson and her husband Hugh Wilson were strongly advised by her Obstetrician, “that future pregnancies would be extremely dangerous”. Being a catholic, Mercedes and Hugh began to educate themselves in natural methods, which according to their family and friends “did not work very well”.

However, the Melbourne Times ran a small article about a new natural method of family planning. Needless to say, that small article changed the course of Mercedes Wilson’s life and countless other women and couples around the world.

This “new” method included all the natural family planning methods being taught at the time, but the Billings Ovulation Method included signs of fertile mucus. It was a major breakthrough in science when other famous doctors of the time began to study the correlation between the signs of cervical mucus and the hormonal cycles in the female body.

Mercedes, Hugh and their children lived in Australia long enough to work and volunteer with these dedicated physicians who gave her the knowledge and confidence to begin her long career in helping women learn about their bodies and at the same time, remain faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church.

As events evolved, Mercedes Wilson found herself back in her native country of Guatemala, armed and on fire with her newfound mission. It was sobering, to say the least, when she taught her first class in a small village on the outskirts of Guatemala City. These women could not read or write and certainly had no thermometers, how was she going to share this message. She simply could not abandon these women. With the help of a very holy priest and nun; and some intense sessions on how to teach the poor, the stamp system was born. It was soon evident that Mercedes could teach these women how to recognize their signs of fertility so they could space their children without incorporating the other natural, but complicated methods that required reading and writing.

The rest is history. When Mercedes had enough evidence, she invited the Drs. Billings to Guatemala. Both were overwhelmingly receptive and the Ovulation Method was accepted and launched by the Drs. Billings and Family of the Americas worldwide.

Mercedes and all the Family of the Americas Board of Directors, Teachers and staff continue to study and learn from the best scientists and physicians in the world. Family of the Americas has conducted studies and scientific research in China and Guatemala, as well as cooperating in numerous studies in various continents.

 The Ovulation Method is 99% effective and simple to learn and use. She believes mothers should be handing this knowledge of how a woman can recognize her own fertility cycle, down to their daughters. When mothers talk about the menstrual cycle, the fertile phase should be included in the discussion.

Around the world

Congresses

Family and youth

We need to challenge the youth to live chaste lives and to remain virgins until marriage.

Mother Teresa expressed this while giving a speech at Harvard University years ago when she said to them: “the greatest gift you can give each other on your wedding day is the gift of your virginity”. She received a standing ovation from the students. She told me that several students came to speak with her afterwards and said, “This is what we need to hear”! Which proves people are hungry for the truth.

Family of the Americas, with the help of catholic parishes in Guatemala and their youth ministries, organized this incredible congress where almost 8,000 youth promised to lead chaste lives and remain virgins until marriage.
These Catholic Youth Congresses are repeated every two years at the request of the young people involved in them.

In Defense of

Life and family

Members of Family of the Americas and Mercedes Wilson as a representative of her country Guatemala, were able to participate in the negotiations in defense of the family at all the United Nations International conferences since 1994 in Cairo, 1995 in Copenhagen, 1995 in Beijing (where Mercedes Arzu Wilson was asked by Mother Teresa to deliver her message to the participants); 1996 in Istanbul where a few victories were accomplished in defense of the family. The last UN Conference was in Rome in 1998.
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