What happens when you do everything “right”—learn NFP, seek restorative reproductive care, pursue answers, pray faithfully—and the baby you long for still doesn’t come?
In this deeply honest episode of The NFP Podcast, Emily and Amylynn sit down with Paula Gallagher, founder of Catholic Infertility Coaching, to talk about the physical, emotional, marital, and spiritual realities of infertility.
Paula shares her own journey through more than a decade of primary infertility: learning to chart with the Creighton Model, receiving diagnoses including endometriosis and hormonal concerns, undergoing surgery and years of treatment, and eventually confronting the painful reality that medicine may not provide every answer. Along the way, infertility became about far more than achieving a pregnancy—it challenged Paula’s understanding of her body, her identity, her marriage, and even her relationship with God.
Together, Emily, Amylynn, and Paula have an honest conversation about the questions many women carry quietly: Why would God give me the desire for motherhood and not fulfill it? Is it okay to be angry with God? How do I celebrate someone else’s pregnancy while grieving what I don’t have? Do I have to attend the baby shower? When is it okay to stop pursuing treatment? And who am I if motherhood doesn’t happen the way I imagined?
Paula also offers practical wisdom for navigating pregnancy announcements, baby showers, insensitive comments, friendships, family relationships, and the loneliness that can accompany infertility—especially within Catholic communities where large families and openness to life are so deeply valued.
But this episode is ultimately about something even deeper: learning that infertility can be part of your story without becoming your entire identity.
Today, Paula accompanies other women through Catholic Infertility Coaching, offering the kind of support she wishes she had during the hardest years of her own journey. She and her husband have also recently welcomed a son through adoption, entering a beautiful new chapter of their family’s story.
Paula reminds us that surrender does not mean pretending the cross doesn’t hurt. Grief and gratitude can exist together. We can desire the good of motherhood while still recognizing the goodness already present in our lives. And even when God's plan looks nothing like the one we carefully imagined for ourselves, He can still bring tremendous fruit from our suffering.
As Paula beautifully shares: “The Lord can make your life abundant no matter what that life looks like.”
If you are walking through infertility—or love someone who is—this conversation is for you.
Paula is the founder of Catholic Infertility Coaching and the author of the forthcoming book Navigating Infertility: The Catholic Woman’s Guide to Hope and Healing, scheduled for publication by Ave Maria Press in March 2027.
Resources:
1. Creighton Model: https://www.fertilitycare.org/about-fcca/
2. Paul Gallagher's Website: https://www.catholicinfertilitycoaching.com/
3. Follow Paula on Instagram: @catholic.infertility.coaching https://www.instagram.com/catholic.infertility.coaching/
4. Pre-order Paula's New Book: https://www.avemariapress.com/products/navigating-infertility
