{"id":306787,"date":"2024-02-12T12:38:41","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T18:38:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=306787"},"modified":"2024-02-12T11:16:15","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T17:16:15","slug":"younger-generations-natural-birth-control-reasons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/younger-generations-natural-birth-control-reasons\/","title":{"rendered":"Younger generations are turning to natural birth control methods. There are good reasons why."},"content":{"rendered":"
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According to the UK’s <\/span>NHS<\/span><\/a>, more of the younger generations are turning to natural family planning (NFP) or fertility awareness methods (FAM) instead of hormonal contraception. <\/span><\/p>\n

The NHS surveyed about 555,400 women between the ages of 13 to 54 over the past 10 years and found that, compared to when the survey first began in 2013, the amount of women choosing natural methods in 2023 has doubled<\/em> \u2014 from 4,500 to 8,800. Incredible. But why? Natural methods (which require abstinence to avoid pregnancy during the fertile time of a woman’s cycle) don\u2019t exactly line up with the message of mainstream feminism: sex on demand without repercussions. The shift may be a realization of the damage mainstream feminism and hormonal contraception have had on female health overall.<\/span><\/p>\n

A recent <\/span>op-ed<\/span><\/a> by Ella Whelan, a freelance journalist for Unherd, points out that millennials<\/em> largely favor hormonal contraception such as the pill, IUDs, and others. \u201cWe millennials would risk pretty much anything to have carefree sex \u2014 even our waistlines,\u201d she says. She briefly outlines her own experience with these contraceptive methods calling the copper IUD a \u201cmedieval experience\u201d and recalls \u201csoldiering\u201d through taking various birth control pills and later resorting to the morning-after pills. Yet, when Whelan was later told her remaining fertility would not be enough to conceive a child without medical intervention, she expresses no regret for her choices. <\/span><\/p>\n

According to the same NHS research, only about 30% of women using oral contraception back in 2013 are still using it today. That means a little over <\/span>294,000 women<\/span><\/a> chose to stop taking the pill.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

T<\/span>he too-common reality of the troubled path of hormonal contraception seems to have reached the ears of the next generation: Gen Z<\/em>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Misunderstanding the nature of fertility awareness<\/h4>\n

Many still hold on to the outdated image of the \u201crhythm method\u201d as the predominant natural contraception, but science has shown women how to track their own signs and symptoms \u2014 biomarkers, if you will \u2014 to identify when they are becoming fertile and when they\u2019re not. <\/span><\/p>\n

Natural Womanhood<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has a host of helpful and clearly organized resources for learning about the various <\/span>NFP<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and <\/span>FAM<\/span><\/a>\u00a0strategies, hormonal contraception side effects, and an advice line for any and all cycle concerns. <\/span>FemTech<\/span><\/a>\u00a0has caught on to tracking these <\/span>biomarkers<\/span><\/a> and has made many advancements to allow NFP and FAM methods to be technologically available to women who are busy building a career, mothers with little more than 10 minutes to themselves, and women entering perimenopause and beyond. As Whelan puts it, many women feel that \u201cmethods of contraception feed into the idea of a woman\u2019s sense of self.\u201d Teaching women about their bodies and the incredible design of their fertility <\/span>is<\/span><\/i> empowering. In the age of data and self-empowerment, NFP and FAM fit right in.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Whelan quotes Dr. Rebecca Steinfield, a reproductive health commentator, stating,\u201cI\u2019m not convinced dressing up age-old methods, like the rhythm method, in snazzy new apps is the reproductive utopia fem-tech companies want us to believe it is\u2026They all romanticize a past when people lacked access to revolutionary, literally life-saving innovations like modern contraception, effective pain relief in labour, safe surgery in birth, and life-sustaining formula milk.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

But is this really<\/em> the reality of NFP and FAM? <\/span><\/p>\n

Scientifically backed and effective<\/h4>\n

Steinfeld fails to mention the <\/span>scientifically backed and effective<\/span><\/a>\u00a0natural methods of family planning such as Sympto-Thermal (SymptoPro or Couple to Couple League), the Creighton Model, the Billings Method, FEMM, Marquette, and ChartNeo. These methods each include various ways of tracking one or more of the following fertility biomarkers: cervical mucus, cervix position, basal body temperature (BBT), and hormones detected by at-home urine tests. <\/span><\/p>\n

While it is not clear which methods Gen Z is choosing over the pill, it is obvious that FemTech has latched onto methods like Sympto-Thermal, FEMM, and Marquette. Apps such as <\/span>Read Your Body<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>FEMM<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Flo<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Clue<\/span><\/a>, and others allow women to track their biomarkers in digital format for quick reference and ease. <\/span><\/p>\n

Natural Cycles<\/span><\/a>, a newer, FDA-approved, and somewhat controversial app, has also gained popularity in recent years. Yet, it has garnered much criticism for its lack of tracking more than one fertility sign and relying mostly on a computer algorithm for fertility prediction. <\/span><\/p>\n

For methods requiring BBT monitoring, newer FemTech devices such as the <\/span>TempDrop<\/span><\/a>, <\/span>Ava<\/span><\/a>, and <\/span>Daysy<\/span><\/a>\u00a0have been made with the intent to create an easier way to track this biomarker. The <\/span>Clear Blue Fertility Monitor<\/span><\/a> (17) is specifically for use with the Marquette Model to make reading urine tests a breeze when pairing with an algorithm based on a woman\u2019s body.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With all of these innovative FemTech additions to the NFP family, it\u2019s no wonder Gen Z has stopped to listen. <\/span><\/p>\n

Despite this, critics like Whelan claim that NFP and FAM are \u201cfailing women.\u201d Yet according to Natural Womanhood, the failure rates of the top NFP methods <\/span>rival<\/span><\/a> the failure rates of the pill, IUD, and condoms. These rates include typical use \u2014 meaning human error is included in the calculation. The Sympto-Thermal method stands at a 1.8% failure rate with typical use, the Creighton Model lands at 4%, and Marquette sits at 7%. Comparing these to some of the more popular forms of hormonal and non-hormonal contraception, the IUD sits at a 1% failure rate, the pill at 9%, and condoms at 18%.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n