The Most Precious Curse By Erin Prelypchan For Wensley and Lilian Hidalgo, the choice was clear. The devout Roman Catholic Couple living in the misty northern Philippine city of La Trindad couldn't afford to have a third child. "No more children! Life's too hard now," says 40-yearold Lilian laughing, bundled in sweaters against the chill. "I first heard about the necklace from a midwife in our neighborhood. It seemed simple and natural, so we decided to try it". What she and her husband decided to experiment with is a relatively recent idea in population control - the standard days or "necklace" method. Women use color-coded beads on a necklace to determine when it's safe to have sex without getting pregnant. Beads for the fertile days of the month glow in the dark, giving couples no excuses for missing the point in an unlit bedroom. "At first the husbands were hesitant, especially about the middle part of the necklace. It was too long, they said, 12 days without sex", says midwife Virginia Rivera, referring to the white beads that indicate the unsafe days for sex. "But many of the husbands got used to it". (Newsweek, 10.02.2003.) Assinale a alternativa que indica a idéia principal do texto.