About Us

Serena is a national organization that specializes in the teaching of the Sympto-Thermal method of natural family planning. Serena’s services are available in most provinces across Canada. Volunteer couples are trained locally, and then accredited by Serena Canada. Where there are no teacher couples available, our services can be obtained through online education. Our national team consists of medical advisors and program managers. The dedication of our volunteers and professionals assures high quality services.

Serena was founded in 1955 by Gilles and Rita Breault from Lachine Quebec (Montreal area). They first developed the Sympto-Thermal Method for their own needs, but soon realized that couples in their community were also in need of this same knowledge to plan their family in a way that respected their values.

The first team was established in 1962 under the name of SERENA. (SErvice for the REgulation of NAtality)

Serena Saskatchewan was founded in 1974.

Since then we have continued to find alternative funding opportunities and strive to grow and develop to meet the needs of today’s couples. 

Serena’s mission is to enable couples to manage their fertility in a natural and effective manner based on better knowledge and understanding of the female cycle of fertility.  We are committed to:  building healthy marriage relationships based on respect and trust and supporting couples in seeking to delay or achieve pregnancy through the utilization of the Sympto-Thermal Method of Natural Family Planning.

Our philosophy is that every couple obtain awareness and understanding of their fertility to provide the information on which they base their family planning decisions and behaviour. Respect for individuals and for human life from conception is central to our philosophy. 

Serena’s approach is couple to couple. Volunteer teacher couples meet  with and teach the Serena method to interested couples.  We believe that successful family planning needs the involvement of both partners. 

Family Planning is not a medical issue.  Everyone can understand fertility and become self-reliant to manage their fertility. Serena respects the natural fertility cycle and is committed to the empowerment and support of couples. 

We believe that Natural Family Planning (NFP) should be available to all people. NFP is inexpensive, environmentally friendly and aids in understanding the woman’s reproductive cycle.

Serena’s success is largely due to the teamwork of our dynamic and passionate members, which include teacher couples, coordinators, collaborators, medical advisors and staff. We recognize the tireless efforts of volunteer teacher-couples, as well as many collaborators and coordinators who generously give of their time to share and teach this knowledge.

Serena is honoured by the long-time commitment of one of our medical advisors, Dr. Suzanne Parenteau-Carreau. Dr. Suzanne is a world-respected fertility researcher; the method we have today has largely been developed and refined by her. She continues to develop and review our technical materials and advise teacher-couples when Sympto-Thermal Method (STM) charts are difficult to interpret.

Over the last 50 years, research on thousands of women’s cycles, reproductive histories, breastfeeding and menopausal experiences has been conducted by Serena Canada. This has contributed to the refinement and standardization of teaching and charting of the Sympto-Thermal Method as well as the development and publication of Serena’s teaching materials. Serena has also been involved in consultations with other NFP organizations and professional agencies both within Canada and internationally. Serena’s expertise and experience are well recognized throughout the world.

At Serena, our goal is to continue to stay at the forefront of scientific development to better understand the female cycle and how this relates to fertility.  We review scientific research constantly and refine the method as appropriate. Research advances have led to the accurate, comprehensive and improved Sympto-Thermal Method that we teach today. We are continuing to strive to adapt to the needs of today’s women and couples to provide STM teaching that is accessible to all.