Manual formatting, like that you propose, simply perpetuates the problem. Create (or modify) a paragraph style to provide you with the spacing you want and apply it to the paragraphs.
The following will kill the two birds with one stone, by creating a suitable style in the document (if the name doesn't exist) to apply 36 points of space before each item.
Code:
Sub Macro1()
Dim oStyle As Style
Dim bStyle As Boolean
Dim oPara As Paragraph
For Each oStyle In ActiveDocument.Styles
If oStyle.NameLocal = "Extra Space" Then
bStyle = True
Exit For
End If
Next oStyle
If Not bStyle Then
ActiveDocument.Styles.Add name:="Extra Space", _
Type:=wdStyleTypeParagraph
With ActiveDocument.Styles("Extra Space")
.AutomaticallyUpdate = False
.ParagraphFormat.SpaceBefore = 36
.NoSpaceBetweenParagraphsOfSameStyle = False
End With
End If
For Each oPara In ActiveDocument.Paragraphs
If oPara.Range.Text Like "Choice (*" Then
oPara.Style = "Extra Space"
End If
Next oPara
lbl_Exit:
Exit Sub
End Sub