Pregnant Pauses

The Media's Strange Antipathy to New Fertility Apps

Ever since 1960, when the FDA approved Enovid as the first hormonal contraceptive pill, the market for contraceptives has boomed. In 2018, the global market for hormonal contraceptives alone (setting aside condoms, spermicides, devices, etc.) was valued at a staggering $15.6 billion.¹

But there is a new player on the family-planning stage: fertility-tracking apps and technology. In many ways, such apps are a new take on the age-old concept of fertility awareness. They rely on the simple physiological fact that a typical woman is only fertile for approximately six days out of every month. If she can accurately identify those six days, she can avoid conception by abstaining from sexual activity or taking other...