You’ll find Serena’s services across Canada. Each province has its own Serena teaching team. In Saskatchewan, we have been advocating for natural methods of family planning since 1974.
We are health conscience, passionate people who support using natural, medically founded, and scientific based methods of family planning.
We train and accredit each team member with knowledge of the Sympto-Thermal Method.
More and more couples and women are concerned about their bodies and their health. They want to make wise choices regarding different aspects of their health. Because of side effects that hormonal contraceptives may have on some women, there is a growing interest in natural methods.
Meet our team:
Kevin and Annette Bentler (Saskatoon)
Kevin hails from Glenwood, Minnesota and Annette from Zenon Park, SK. They met while serving with National Evangelization Teams (NET Ministries). They were married August 10, 1996 and are blessed with five beautiful children. Annette has been the Serena Saskatchewan Coordinator since 2001.
Brad and Wendy Breit (Regina)
Brad and Wendy are from Regina and have been using the Serena method since their marriage in 1998. Brad is retired after teaching for 35 years in the Regina Catholic system. Wendy was the first certified Child Life Specialist in our province. Child Life Specialists prepare kids for medical and diagnostic procedures as well as advocating for the physical and psychological well-being of the children and parents when they come to the hospital. Brad and Wendy met through teaching ballroom dancing and continue to enjoy dancing together. They are dynamic presenters who enjoy presenting an NFP viewpoint to high school classes and at marriage preparation courses, but are willing to present to any group that would like to learn more about NFP.
Andrew & Shancelle Hildebrandt (Bruno)
Married since August 28th, 2010, Andrew and Shancelle are the proud parents of four beautiful children. A 4 year old, 2 year old twins, and a baby due in May. Andrew and Shancelle learned about NFP during their engagement and have been successfully using SERENA to delay, achieve and space their pregnancies. The knowledge taught through NFP has been a tremendous blessing for them, and for their marriage. As a woman and wife, Shancelle appreciates the natural approach, the beauty and the respect NFP shows towards their fertility. As an engineer and husband, Andrew appreciates the greater understanding there is towards fertility through data collection and graphing!. 😉 Please feel free to contact them with any questions!
Claude & Michele Jalbert (Prince Albert)
We were NFP users from the beginning of our marriage. Michele was a nurse and Claude a teacher. NFP seemed to make sense. We were in awe of the beauty of the signs and symptoms of fertility built into our bodies.
We initially chose NFP purely for health reasons and low cost. As we grew in love and in our relationship, we saw and experienced the benefits of NFP creating a strong bond between us. Use of NFP for us has fostered better communication and commitment. It empowered our decision making into having a larger family. We have been blessed with 7 beautiful children, 2 of whom are married and now using NFP in their marriages.
Michele & Claude Jalbert
Married 27 years.
Don & Deb Larmour (Saskatoon)
Don and Deborah Larmour met at the U of S pub on campus while Deb was finishing her Law degree and Don was back as a College of Engineering alumnus. They have been married since 1983. They enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren as well as watching movies and discussing philosophical, theological, and political issues…really…and that is not just another way of saying they enjoy a good argument! They are involved in their parish as well as a number of other causes and organizations including having been SERENA SK and SERENA Canada board members. They have 6 children and yes, SERENA does work as this was on purpose. Don owns his own consulting company, Global Potash, consulting world wide in the Potash Industry and although Deb began their married life as a lawyer she now enjoys working for the Ukrainian Catholic Eparchy of Saskatoon as the Director of the Family and Life Office. Don and Deb are deeply committed to passing on the counter cultural lifestyle of SERENA as it builds couple communication, trust, and therefore strong and healthy marriages and families.
Patrick and Samantha Levesque (Saskatoon)
Patrick and Samantha Levesque met through mutual friends at the University of Saskatchewan in the dungeon of the Physics building back in 1997 and have been married since May of 2002. They enjoy exercising together and watching movies at home, are involved in way too much, and have 7 children. Patrick works as a Chiropractor and Samantha keeps busy with being a home schooling mom.
Jim and Maureen McLane (North Battleford)
When I was young I had decided that for moral reasons I would not use contraception should I marry. I first heard of natural family planning through a friend, who, with her husband, were a teacher couple with Serena Saskatchewan. I initially learned the basics of the Ovulation Method and later learned the sympto-thermal method. After Jim and I planned to marry he was open to learning about natural family planning. We were invited to train to become a teacher-couple early in our marriage. I didn’t anticipate that we would not conceive a child as soon as we had hoped so the knowledge of our joint fertility was useful and greatly appreciated. The communication necessary to practice natural family planning and the sacrifice and joy that we have experienced throughout our fertile years has drawn us closer to each other as we look forward to the last ‘trimester’ of our lives. The blessings of now seeing our married children adopt the NFP lifestyle is deeply rewarding.
As a veterinary student I was learning that there are definite signs of fertility in the reproductive cycles of animals, so when Maureen explained to me that women also have definitive signs of fertility, I was open to using Natural Family Planning. Through our study and practice of NFP in marriage we gained a deeper appreciation of each other, better communication and a desire to share that knowledge with others.
Cary and Sandra Molyneux (Saskatoon)
Throughout our entire 20 year marriage we have successfully been using Serena to both avoid and obtain pregnancy. Not only has it been a reliable tool for planning our family, but it has also been a gift to our marriage. NFP requires a couple to come together and learn mutual respect for how we are created and how our bodies function. Practising NFP has made it necessary to regularly discuss our intimate relationship with one another, to learn what our spouse needs and grow in a deep understanding of the power each of us holds in our sexuality and how that significantly impacts our relationship with one another. We truly believe that we would not be the couple, or the family, we are today without the knowledge and tools Serena has brought to our marriage.
Dr. Suzanne Parenteau (Quebec)
Dr. Suzanne has served with SERENA Canada as Medical Advisor beginning in the mid 1960’s. Since the start of her medical career, she has made a priority of working in research, in the formulation of teaching materials, and in the instructional training of teacher couples with SERENA Canada. She has been actively involved in Natural Family Planning at the international level, and has for many decades been a recognized authority on NFP.
