It’s been all around the Intrawebs and media sites have gobbled up the headline:  Women Gets Pregnant Using iPhone! 

To be sure, it’s a great “hook”.  But when you actually read the report, you’ll discover that what she did was download an app that helped her chart her ovulation.  It’s actually not anything new — women have been using this method of natural fertility awareness for centuries.  However, it may give false hope to some individuals.

To be sure, there is nothing wrong with measuring your temperature or charting your menstrual periods to determine your most “fertile” points of the month.  But there may be hidden factors to infertility that cannot be addressed or uncovered when using this method:

1. The fertility issue may not be on the woman’s part.  Up to 40% of couples experiencing infertility discover that the male – not the female — is the one with the fertility concerns.
2. The woman may not be ovulating or ovulating regularly despite the occurrence of menses.  This means that although she is having a period, she’s not really fertile or may be only fertile a small percentage of the time.
3. The woman may have other medical problems of which she’s unaware.  Without a complete examination including tests, the source of the couple’s fertility problems may not be apparent if they only use a natural form of charting fertility.

Our recommendation?  If, after using a non-medical method to chart fertility (like the i-Phone app) you are unable to get pregnant within 6 months, it’s time to see a reproductive science specialist.  That way, you’ll be wasting no time.

By the same token, we congratulate the couple for achieving their goal!