How fertility and period-tracking apps backed by Love Island & Towie stars are fueling huge rise in abortions

FERTILITY and period- tracking apps endorsed by influencers and celebrities including Love Island, Towie and Coronation Street stars are being blamed for a immense emergence successful abortions.

Figures amusement 69 per cent of Gen Z women aged 18 to 24 person utilized the apps.

Another survey showed that the fig seeking abortions aft utilizing fertility apps has surged six-fold successful 5 years.

And the likes of Corrie histrion Lucy Fallon, erstwhile Towie prima Lucy Mecklenburgh and Love Islanders Olivia Bowen, Montana Brown and Olivia Attwood person each been paid to endorse immoderate of them.

Women usage the tech to show their menstrual cycles and ovulation, hole for periods and enactment retired fertile windows — arsenic they crook distant from hormonal contraceptives.

Molly-Mae Hague shared her acquisition of trying the Flo app — utilized by much than 420million radical worldwide — successful an Instagram Q&A successful 2022 for which she was not paid.

The Love Islander, 25, who was past dating chap Love Islander Tommy Fury, spoke retired 7 months earlier she announced the commencement of the pair’s girl Bambi, who is present two.

The influencer, who has 8.5million followers, told fans: “I usage the Flo app to way my fertile constituent of the month” but added: “I don’t urge this if you privation thing safer/more accurate.”

Flo, costing from £2.50 a period for a yearly plan, states it should not beryllium utilized arsenic a method of contraception.

But galore women bash usage it that mode — including teaching adjunct Amanda Duddridge, 39, who is present informing women to beryllium careful.

She became large successful 2023 with her 3rd kid portion utilizing Flo, which asks users to input details astir the magnitude of their cycles.

Amanda, 39, of Pontypridd, South Wales, was already mum to Esmee, ten, and five-year-old Elvie erstwhile she and her partner, lawsuit services advisor Grafton Welsh, 40, recovered retired that they were expecting Elodie, present 10 months.

She told the Sun connected Sunday: “These apps transportation disclaimers like, ‘Speak to a healthcare nonrecreational first’ or, ‘Don’t usage without different contraceptive’ but galore radical don’t work the good print.

“Add to that the celebrity endorse-ments and galore women usage these apps reasoning they are bulletproof.

“I felt aggravated astatine myself and the app. Our girl is astonishing and I wouldn’t alteration what happened for a 2nd but I’ve learnt my lesson.

“Women request to deliberation for them-selves and not conscionable trust connected what a personage says — particularly erstwhile they are being paid to beforehand an app.

“I’d work reports astir Flo’s groundbreaking options for women and seen radical connected societal media talking astir however superb it was.

“I utilized it to way my cycle, and for assistance to get large with Elvie. Then I utilized it to way my rhythm for contraception purposes.

"I didn’t privation chemicals successful my body. I’d been truthful cautious but it didn’t enactment for me.

“A six-fold summation successful terminations among Gen-Z women is shocking and I blasted the apps.

"Young radical presume they connection ‘super-protection’ but utilizing it without putting successful the close accusation tin effect successful pregnancy.

"The usage rates of these apps and the surge successful terminations shows that.”

Many of the astir popular fertility apps enactment alongside devices that show assemblage somesthesia oregon hormones.

Others, similar Flo, are play trackers and lone inquire for details including menstrual rhythm magnitude earlier indicating the days that women are apt to beryllium astir oregon slightest fertile.

Flo is not endorsed by UK influencers but Natural Cycles is. It bills itself arsenic “natural commencement control”, with nary hormones oregon side-effects, and works alongside devices that show assemblage heat.

It has been classed arsenic a aesculapian instrumentality but states it is 93 per cent effectual “with emblematic use” and 98 per cent “with cleanable use”.

An yearly subscription works retired astatine £6.66 a period and celebrities connection discount codes — portion informing the app whitethorn not enactment for everyone.

Olivia Bowen, 31, whose lad Abel was calved successful 2022, told her 3 cardinal followers successful June: “I’m each for choosing a non-hormonal, non- invasive commencement power method.

“That’s wherefore I americium erstwhile again teaming up with @naturalcycles to assistance dispersed the connection astir their science-backed, side-effect-free birth-control app.”

‘Swayed by influencers’

The world prima added: “We’re each antithetic — what’s close for maine whitethorn not beryllium close for you.

"But Natural Cycles has helped maine to summation a amended knowing of my body.

"The app supports women done antithetic phases of their fertility travel and tin beryllium utilized arsenic commencement power to forestall gestation oregon arsenic a instrumentality erstwhile trying to conceive.

“If you are funny successful investigating Natural Cycles for yourself, usage my code . . . to get 15% disconnected your yearly subscription and a escaped thermometer astatine naturalcycles.com.”

Meanwhile Olivia’s chap Love Islander Olivia Attwood, 33, described Natural Cycles arsenic “like the aureate ticket” successful a 2021 Instagram station to her 2.3million followers.

She added: “I tin debar un-planned pregnancy, way my cycles and don’t person to enactment thing overseas into my body.”

In 2024, Made In Chelsea prima Tiffany Watson, 31, hailed Natural Cycles arsenic “the champion non-hormonal and non-invasive commencement control” successful a station to her 570,000 followers.

Corrie’s Lucy Fallon, 29, called it “amazing” successful 2023, successful a station to her 598,000 followers aft giving birth.

She was thrilled “not lone to beryllium capable to forestall gestation people but besides to larn patterns of my rhythm and erstwhile my assemblage starts ovulating again”.

Her station talks astir the effectiveness of Natural Cycles and however to usage it, and says it is officially approved present successful the UK. She offered a discount codification for followers wishing to subscribe.

Towie’s Lucy Mecklenburgh, 33, besides claimed to emotion the product, aft struggling with contra-ceptives that had side-effects.

She says: “All I bash is measurement my somesthesia each greeting and the algorithm calculates my fertility status.

“If it’s a Green Day, I’m not fertile  . . .  if it’s a Red Day, I’m fertile.”

An investigation of British Pregnancy Advisory Service information explored which contraception methods women who requested abortions successful England and Wales were utilizing erstwhile they became pregnant.

It showed a six-fold emergence betwixt 2018 and 2023 successful women utilizing fertility awareness-based methods astatine conception, portion the mean property of women utilizing these methods fell from astir 30 to 27.

It besides showed women taking hormonal contraceptives specified arsenic the Pill fell by 7.5 per cent.

NHS information confirms the usage of earthy household readying has much than doubled successful a decade.

Figures from the Department of Health amusement that successful 2022 successful England and Wales determination were 251,377 abortions — the highest fig since the Abortion Act astir 60 years agone and 17 per cent up connected 2021.

Women’s wellness adept Dr Tamsin Lewis told us: “It is casual to beryllium swayed by endorsements but these are often paid promotions, not vetted aesculapian advice. It’s captious to work the good print.”

The FemTech (female technology) manufacture the apps person grown from is present a billion-dollar business.

There are scores of apps disposable which tin beryllium utile to women who privation to way their cycle.

Another app, Mira Fertility, is endorsed by celebs and works with a show that tracks ­hormones via urine samples and syncs to the app. Devices outgo upwards of £200.

NHS GP and women’s wellness adept Dr Raj Arora warns things specified arsenic accent and unwellness tin impact periods and the readings erstwhile relying connected immoderate apps.

She says: “Several factors tin beryllium influencing our cycles, truthful it’s hard to usage an app to wholly representation that and to cognize we are going to execute a definite day of harmless ovulation 100 per cent correctly.

"That’s wherefore it increases the risks of gestation if utilizing it purely for commencement control. It’s not going to beryllium perchance arsenic close arsenic taking a much accepted signifier of commencement control.”

Sarah Salkeld, of MSI Reproductive Choices UK, which specialises successful enactment for radical considering an abortion, told us: “If there’s a marketplace radical volition nutrient things. but immoderate are costly and don’t person aesculapian grounds to backmost them.”

A spokesperson for Natural Cycles said it worked with influencers but specified selling was “minimal”.

They added: “No, the emergence successful abortions is not owed to women being incapable to travel instructions. Women’s quality to marque informed wellness decisions has agelong been underestimated.”

A Mira spokesperson said it had not positioned itself arsenic a contraception instrumentality and it is not a period- oregon fertility-tracking app but an at-home hormone show that uses an app to transmit information to smart-phones.

They added: “We ever suggest utilizing further protective measures.”

Flo was approached for comment.