A man and a woman, when they marry, have to forge a new identity as a couple. Natural family planning can contribute to this process of bonding through:
Tmutual decision-making - in choosing method, in choosing number of children, in choosing when;
mutual sharing in the responsibility for mutual fertility;
mutual support during those times when abstinence may be difficult - although one might stress that abstinence is not usually difficult;
abstinence as a life skill - necessary for (1) times apart, (2) illness, fatigue, (3) lack of time, (4) sensitivity to the other's emotional receptivity;
diversification of relationship - times of abstinence ensure that the relationship will not narrow down to a purely sexual base - throws the couple back on elements that drew them together in the first place - stimulates couples to express their relationship in non-sexual terms, in broader intellectual, spiritual, cultural, recreational ways - these ways, normally, in the hurly-burly of family life, can get neglected unless recognized and planned for - a period of abstinence can stimulate attention to this area;
renewal of sexual relationship - through sexual rest, and through the anticipation and longing that abstinence can stimulate. This is becoming more important now that sexual boredom is becoming a malaise of modern times.