UK women share their experiences of using fertility-tracking apps
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More women are using apps instead of the pill, but while some find them ‘freeing’, others had unwanted pregnancies. After 15 years on the contraceptive pill Francesca* decided that she wanted to know how her body felt without additional hormones. She started using a fertility tracking app – which tracks menstrual cycles or symptoms of ovulation to help estimate a woman’s fertile window – after learning about them on social media.
![[Alexandra Topping]](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2018/05/02/Alexandra_Topping,_L.png?width=75&dpr=1&s=none&crop=none)
“I had been taking hormones since my teens, and had no real conception of my menstrual cycle in my adult life,” said the Londoner, now in her early 30s. She had been diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) at 18 and told to continue taking the pill to help with symptoms. “Remarkably, pretty much all of my hormonal imbalance symptoms started to subside after stopping taking the pill,” she said.
At first, she found using the app positive. She said she followed the instructions closely and took additional ovulation tests as an added precaution: “I felt more in control than ever before of my cycle and my body.”. But then, after eight months, she became pregnant and went through a “traumatic” termination. She started using the app again thinking the unwanted pregnancy had been a result of human error – but she became pregnant again five months later. “Whenever I now see [these apps] advertised online or on social media I feel compelled to warn people against their claims,” she said. “I’d advise extreme caution to anybody using them as a sole method of contraception.”.
