After taking the pill for a decade, Elodie Monnier Legrand decided to try “natural” birth control, an increasingly popular trend that requires tracking fertility to avoid becoming pregnant.
“I wanted my body to return to its natural state,” the 30-year-old business owner from France said.
However, after getting two abortions within six months, she discovered the app she was using had slightly miscalculated her fertility cycle.
Photo: AP
“It’s not an exact science,” Legrand said.
She is one of a rising number of women who are abandoning hormonal contraception such as the pill. In France, 7.5 percent of women used natural contraceptive methods in 2023, rising from 4.6 percent in 2016, the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM) said.
Helping drive this trend are influencers on social media, who often promote natural birth control as a way for women to “liberate” themselves from the hormonal effects of the pill.
However, experts warn that some common claims about the pill’s side effects represent misinformation — and that methods based on tracking fertility require strict adherence to be effective.
Geoffroy Robin, a gynecologist at the University Hospital of Lille in France, said that the interest in natural methods was fueled by “a climate of hormone-phobia.”
The pill had long been seen as a “tool of women’s emancipation,” he said.
Louise, a 26-year-old in France who did not want to give her surname, said that “hormonal contraception was a complete disaster” for her.
When she was 18, her body rejected a hormonal IUD. After getting an implant, she experienced side effects including weight gain, mood swings and depression, she said.
For the past six years, she has been using the calendar method of natural birth control.
This requires calculating the window when women are fertile — which is about 10 days a month — and abstaining from sex during this period.
The temperature method involves daily checks to detect if women’s bodies have gotten a little warmer, which happens during ovulation.
For the “billings” method, women must inspect their vagina daily to see if there is a build-up of cervical mucus. The “sympto-thermal” method combines the latter two techniques.
The embrace of natural contraception — also called fertility awareness — comes as the use of the pill has declined in many countries.
A study published last year in BMJ Sexual & Reproductive Health estimated that hormonal contraception in England and Wales fell from 19 percent in 2018 to 11 percent in 2023.
The research also suggested there was a link between the increasing use of natural birth control and a rising number of abortions.
Natural techniques are significantly less effective than traditional methods, experts said.
They should only be considered by women “who accept a risk of pregnancy,” INSERM said.
A review conducted by INSERM in 2022 found that less than 20 percent of about 100 fertility apps it analyzed made correct predictions about fertility cycles.
Most apps also shared users’ data with third parties, often without their knowledge, the review found.
Robin said that “natural methods are absolutely ineffective” for those with irregular cycles — about one out of every five women.
There are several factors that can skew measurements.
For example, yeast infection or medication such as antihistamines can disrupt the secretion of vaginal mucus. Paracetamol, antibiotics or even a change in work schedule can alter a woman’s temperature.
This means that natural methods are not suitable for everyone, the experts said, recommending that women considering a change consult their gynecologist.
The rise of natural contraceptive methods, driven by promises of “taking control of one’s body,” is part of the booming wellness industry, French sociologist Cecile Thome said.
These arguments were compelling for Legrand, who paid seven euros (US$8) a month for a fertility app and bought a “smart ring” for more than 200 euros to monitor her temperature. After getting two abortions, she contacted the app’s customer service.
“Their responses were very cold, it wasn’t very humane,” she said.
The abortions were “hard on her body, hard psychologically,” she said.
While Legrand still finds the subject “super interesting,” she wondered if “ultimately, it is just another business.”
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