Should You Trust A Birth Control App?

No hormones, no implants, and no baby. The rhythm method just got a high-tech makeover that sounds super appealing

- Rachel Schultz

YOUR GRANDMOTHER probably called it the rhythm method. But today there are a variety of fertility awareness based methods (FAM) – and thanks to technology, we’re once again talking about natural birth control. ‘I’ve seen an increased interest among single women, married women, women of all faiths and backgrounds,’ says Dr Marguerite Duane, adjunct associate professor of family medicine at Georgetown University and co-founder of FACTS, a non-profit dedicated to sharing the science around FAM. And it’s easy to see why, since hormones and implants can be a nuisance or come with side effects. According to Dr Duane, as long as you abstain from sex or use condoms during your baby-making window (it varies woman to woman and by method but typically lasts 8 to 12 days), ‘the rest of the time, you can have sex all day, every day, and not get pregnant.’

Come again?