History of AFAP

The seed of what was to become AFAP first took root in 1990, when a group of Canadian and American women came together to establish the profession of secular Fertility Awareness Based Methods (FABMs). At the time, these methods were taught almost exclusively in religious contexts. These women recognized the critical importance of supporting each other and developing viable systems for educating users and educators.  They called their organization the Fertility Awareness Network (FAN). We are thankful to these women, some of whom (Toni Weschler, Geraldine Matus, and Lisa Leger) are still leaders in the field and members of AFAP. Others present at the beginning included Maggie MacDonald, Elaine Matus, Sara Rose, Merryl Winstein, Suzannah Cooper-Doyle, and Barbara Feldman, who was the first director of the organization.

Ilene Richman took over in 2001, the year that Barbara Feldman died. Over the years, activity in the organization waxed and waned. By 2013, with the advent of Fertility Awareness apps and an explosion of content about FABMs on the internet, it had become apparent that the need for a professional organization had never been greater, and so FAN was re-organized and re-launched as the Association of Fertility Awareness Professionals.

Organizational Structure and Leadership

AFAP is a membership organization with several different categories of membership. Members participate in committees to accomplish the work of the organization, under the leadership of the Board of Directors.

AFAP Board

Elected by AFAP membership through 2024:

President: Mary Aline, OTR/L, FAE, (she/her) has been a practicing cycle awareness educator since 2018 and she graduated from Sarah Bly’s program, The Well in 2020. Mary Aline has over a decade of experience working as a pediatric occupational therapist in the early intervention setting. She discovered fertility awareness in 2018 and quickly realized the immense benefit of this knowledge. Mary Aline merges her occupational therapy background, and passion for sexual and reproductive wellness, with fertility awareness to provide a holistic perspective to cycle tracking and charting. Mary Aline primarily serves clients who are transitioning off of hormonal contraceptives. She provides virtual courses and one on one support. Mary Aline currently lives on Tockwogh land in Chestertown, MD and loves walking in the forest and being close to the water.

Vice President: Rosemary Roberts, MSc, FAE, S/RHE (she/they) holds the focus seat from the Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Reproductive Justice committee. Rosemary has been practicing fertility awareness since 2008, and teaching/consulting since completion of The Well Teacher Training program in early 2018. She has a background in childbirth education and lactation support, as a midwifery assistant, abortion doula, herbalist, and nature education mentor, and holds a Master’s of Science in sociocultural anthropology. Their work in the FABM world focuses on education and support for all people who have the ability to menstruate, and strives to center anti-racist and decolonization perspectives. Rosemary is a single parent, practicing self-directed education with her two wild children on Kalapuya lands in the Willamette Valley, Oregon.

Secretary: Sara Beaumont HRHP, FAE (she/her) began using fertility awareness based methods in 2016 to prevent pregnancy. In the following decade, she graduated from Justisse College International, founded her virtual 1:1 practice (Reverence Fertility), joined Maven Clinic, and switched up the Justisse Method to plan two pregnancies with her partner. With gratitude to her clients, she deepened her knowledge of how complex, interconnected, and brilliant our bodies are. Today, she loves supporting people to observe and interpret their unique cycles across the reproductive lifespan. She’s passionate about emboldening people with the body literacy needed to navigate healthcare spaces. She aims to be anti-racist and inclusive, acknowledging her privilege and the inequities of our society. Before her work as a fertility awareness educator and holistic reproductive health practitioner, Sara held various communications roles at nonprofits that educated and empowered young people. Artists inspire her and she hopes to write a book someday. You can connect with her virtually and locally in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, (traditional Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk and Menominee homelands) where she resides with her family of humans and cats.

Treasurer: Katinka Locascio, BA, LMT, FAE. Katinka began her charting journey in 2001 when she met and studied with Katie Singer, author of the Garden of Fertility, igniting a passion for fertility awareness and its role in reproductive health. Over the past 2 decades she has incorporated charting into her work as massage therapist, doula, osteopathic manual practitioner and within the herbal community. She has taught individuals, large groups, and herbal practitioners about the usefulness of charting. In 2018, she completed Grace of the Moon’s (now The Well’s) Teacher Training program. She currently lives and practices in New York City, NY.

Vienna Farlow, HRHP, FAE, is a Holistic Reproductive Health Practitioner, fertility awareness educator, and the founder of The Cuntsultant, Your Vagina’s Consultant. She began her journey with reproductive and sexual health and wellness in 2015 and completed her fertility awareness training at Justisse College in 2019. She has been a member of AFAP since 2017. Her work is focused on demystifying the female body and menstrual cycle for all and particularly those with menstrual cycles. She is passionate about reproductive justice, LGBTQ+ inclusion, full spectrum care, abortion access, and provocation in the name of education. She currently lives in San Diego, CA and practices in person and virtually.

Gabby Dickerson-Alejandrino, FAE, RSHE, IMH-C. Gabby’s journey into fertility awareness was introduced in 2020 after studying with Nicole Jardim, author of Fix Your Period, specializing in Women’s hormone health. Furthering her education in 2023, she completed The Well: School of Body Literacy’s two-year teacher training program. Gabby is very passionate about destigmatizing sexual and reproductive health and reproductive justice, as well as working with girls and young menstruators to have a rooted understanding of their bodies and cycles. She is also a girls’ empowerment coach and advocates for informed consent and comprehensive sexual and reproductive education. Gabby is from South Florida, currently living in South America with her family, and teaches exclusively online at Roots Of Reproduction.

Tamara Rubin, FAE.Tamara completed The Well’s teacher training program in 2016. She sees private clients in person and online, and has worked on the Maven telehealth platform since 2022 . She served on AFAP’s research and media committees for several years. She is also a DONA-trained doula, and studied with midwife Molly Dutton-Kenny, health educator and activist Samantha Zipporah, and herbalist Jon Carlson. Before raising three sons, Tamara had a long career in educational publishing, presenting complex information in accessible and interesting ways, and brings this experience to her work on the AFAP board.

AFAP Committees/Areas of Focus

• Certification
• Continuing Education: Gabby Dickerson-Alejandrino
• Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Reproductive Justice: Rosemary Roberts
• Research
• Scholarship: Sara Beaumont
• Membership: Anna Churchill
• Communications & Media: Tamara Rubin
• Fundraising
• Ethics and Bylaws