FemTech is a new word for me. It isn’t the name of a female robot, but rather describes technology for the needs of women’s reproductive health.
There are many types of FemTech. One of the earliest and most common form is various apps women use to keep track of menstrual periods. That information can be useful to help a woman know when she is most fertile and trying to conceive—or when she is least likely to conceive, if her goal is to avoid pregnancy. Unfortunately, that type of app is a good illustration of how technology can lead people astray. There are several potential problems with these simple apps.
Let’s look at the case of a woman who is trying to conceive, but her husband has a low sperm count. They have read that it is best if he saves up those precious sperm until she is ready to ovulate. She looks at her phone one morning and realizes that she is at her most fertile. Her husband is drinking his morning coffee, reading the newspaper and on his way to work. She runs up to him and says:
“Honey, today’s the day! Let’s do it!”
Under those circumstances, sex can become a chore instead of being fun. Furthermore, recently it has been found that it is more productive for a couple to have intercourse more frequently and not just when the wife is more fertile.
There are other problems for couples who are trying to avoid pregnancy. One is that the pregnancy rate is much higher than with most modern contraceptive methods. Another is problem is more pernicious: poor security. Some of the apps do not take adequate measures to keep women’s data secure. Thus, if a woman who lives in a state where abortion is illegal misses a period and might be pregnant, law enforcement might find out. Then, if she tries to go to another state to abort the pregnancy—or perhaps to just visit a friend—she can be tracked. This may seem too Orwellian to occur in the USA, but already laws have been proposed to prevent crossing a state border in order to obtain abortion care.
Natural Cycles is the only app that earned FDA approval for contraceptive purposes. It uses a combination of period information and the rise of a person’s temperature when ovulation occurs, so it is more accurate than period-tracking apps. It claims to be 93% effective with typical use—which means that as many as 7 out of 100 women will conceive in a year of using this app for birth control. This is pretty good compared to other natural family planning methods, which have a failure rate up to 25%.
FemTech gets more sophisticated than just a calendar and thermometer. High tech fertility tracking with finger rings that measure temperature and home tests for progesterone which can help tell when ovulation has occurred. There are even expensive kits that measure 4 different hormones for the same purpose. Another high tech device uses vaginal probe that notifies the user when her cervical mucus is ready to assist sperm on their journey.
For an unintended pregnancy, FemTcch can help women lower barriers to self-managed abortions. A chatbot named “Ally” uses artificial intelligence to do this. Ally provides information for safe abortions using pills. It is available in several languages and has been used by people in over 170 countries.
This is just a sample of FemTech; I’m sure that much more will be developed in the future. Unfortunately, new ways of invading our privacy will also proliferate.
©?Richard Grossman MD 2026
PS: After posting this essay I realized that the FDA has approved another app for contraception, “Clue”.
