Fertility Awareness Center - About Us, Contact Us

If you would like to receive information about instruction, or if you would like to be added to our mailing list, click here.

We are also on

Facebook! Find us (like us) here.

About Us

The Fertility Awareness Center (FAC) was founded around 1981 by my mentor, Barbara Feldman. The primary function of the FAC is to provide instruction in Fertility Awareness, and to educate the public about the benefits of Fertility Awareness.

My name is Ilene Richman, and I have headed the FAC since 2001, the year Barbara finally succumbed to breast cancer. I have been advocating and practicing Fertility Awareness since I first studied with Barbara in 1994. In this capacity, my main role is that of a teacher. I offer both workshops as well as private consultations for women and couples wanting to manage their fertility naturally.

I've given many lectures on Fertility Awareness, to the general public as well as to health care professionals, at such places as Bluestockings, Brooklyn College, The Continuum Center for Health and Healing, and NY Presbyterian/Columbia Family Medicine residency program. I am also a guest faculty member at Om Wellness.

I am also the coordinator of an international network of non-religious teachers of Fertility Awareness, the Fertility Awareness Network (FAN). The vast majority of instructors in North America teach the method in a religious context. FAN is the only professional network for secular instructors. As coordinator, I answer inquiries from people seeking instruction, or who want to become instructors themselves. The Network also serves to provide support for professionals in the field. If you are a Fertility Awareness professional and want to learn more about FAN, please look here.

I've had the privilege of editing and proofreading for several excellent books. You can check out two of them, and their associated websites, here:

In 2006, I began mentoring women wishing to incorporate Fertility Awareness into their existing practices, and in 2010, I began training 5 wonderful women to become teachers. For more information on becoming a Fertility Awareness educator, click here.

For a few years, I ran the Fertility Awareness Center as a nonprofit. In 2009, however, I decided that nonprofit administration was neither my strong suit nor my desire, and I went back to running it as an educational organization. During the nonprofit years, I had some wonderful people serve on the board of directors, each of whom contributed something unique to our mission. I would like to acknowledge them here:

Suzanne Barker Augustyn- Suzanne Barker Augustyn has worked in the publishing and printing industry since 1997. In 2008, Suzanne graduated from the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and became a certified holistic health counselor. Suzanne is also an artist, and in 2005 she received her BFA degree from Hunter College. You can read about Suzanne's holistic nutrition practice here. In the fall of 2006, Suzanne and her then-fiance David took a FAM workshop taught by Ilene Richman. They very much enjoyed learning the method, as well as learning more about reproductive health in general. Suzanne feels it's very important to get information about this natural and affordable method out there to as many people as possible, both for pregnancy achievement and for contraception. In particular, she would love to see teenage girls and low-income families have access to this approach, as well as the support needed to be successful with it.

Melissa King - Melissa King is a Certified Holistic Health Counselor who helps women to solve common life challenges (unsuccessful dating patterns, career frustrations, indecisiveness, achieving health goals, etc.) by helping them discover what they really value and how to implement those values into their life in an authentic way. She also provides coaching and education to women and couples affected by genital herpes. She has lectured on achieving a healthy diet and balanced lifestyle for such places as Columbia University, Broadway Dance Center, and Lenox Hill hospital. Melissa has found Fertility Awareness to be valuable both in her own life as well as in her practice. She often encourages clients to learn FA in order to improve their health and to benefit from the self-knowledge it provides. For more info, visit her blog: Simply Flaw-thentic.

Susan Baer - Susan Baer is the Founder and President of Baer Technology in Washington, D.C. She has established a reputation of making technology secure, accessible, and understandable to thousands of people. Since 1994, she has grown the business into a boutique consulting company incorporating networking, procurement, and security expertise into her portfolio of services. Her clients include Fortune 500 companies, Big 6 accounting & consulting firms, law firms, as well as non-profits. Susan has appeared on Fox 5 TV News and WGMS FM Radio as an authority on critical technology issues. She has consulted for The Washington Post, cable TV news, and EXBTV.com. Susan's computer business can be found here. Susan learned the Fertility Awareness Method from FAC’s Ilene Richman and has practiced the method for conception of son Maximillian (born 2006) and for birth control.

Shakti Ziller - Shakti is a native New Yorker currently living in the East Village. She has a BA in Art in the Context of Gender and Sexuality and a strong background in feminist theory. Shakti works as a Rape Crisis and Domestic Violence Advocate at Beth Israel Hospital and volunteers for Bluestockings Radical Bookstore as well as an elementary school art class. In addition, she is a Gynecological Teaching Associate (GTA). GTAs are specially trained women who teach future doctors and nurses the nuances of how to make pelvic and breast exams comfortable (where to place their fingers, how to insert a speculum, and how to talk with patients respectfully) by using their own bodies as teaching tools. For more info about GTAs, see http://www.atyourcervixmovie.com. As soon as Shakti learned about the Fertility Awareness Method, she understood its powerful political implications and wanted to support the Center in its education and outreach efforts.

Autumn Brown - Autumn Brown is a founding member of the Rock Dove Collective, an NYC-Based community health organization, a member of the board of directors of smartMEME, and a practitioner of the Fertility Awareness Method. Trained in Consensus Process and Facilitation by the U.K.-based collective, Seeds for Change, Ms. Brown is experienced in facilitating group process and training community organizers in Consensus Decision-making. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College, Ms. Brown has also completed specialized study in Theology at Oxford University and the General Theological Seminary of New York. You can read about her many progressive projects here.

Dara Kessler - Dara N. Kessler, DMD, is an Associate at Dentistry for Health New York, one of the leading holistic dental practices in Manhattan. A graduate of Tufts University School of Dental Medicine and Brandeis University, Dr. Kessler completed her residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital / Columbia University, where she began practicing and teaching integrative techniques in dentistry. Dr. Kessler also completed 2 years of study at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. Because she is committed to health promotion and well-being through education and empowerment, she has long appreciated and used the Fertility Awareness Method of conception and birth control. Her latest venture includes raising her 2 children, conceived using FAM!

Carla Savetsky - RPA, MS, certified herbalist. Carla has been a Registered Physician Assistant in the field of obstetrics and gynecology since 1995. She practices gynecology at Arcadia Ob/Gyn in Manhattan. Her Brooklyn-based practice, Natural Healing for Women, is where she helps women to heal gynecological ailments using herbal remedies, flower essences, Maya Abdominal Massage, and nutrition. Carla's website can be found here. She has been heard speaking about her work on national radio (Sirius Satellite Radio) and locally (WBAI Pacifica Radio). Carla has also been seen on Healing Quest, on Public Television, and interviewed in numerous publications about women's health and natural healing. Carla has great enthusiasm for FAM, and looks forward to the day that it is taught to all young adults in the public schools.