TELT Magazine

number has grown, with
teens 80% more likely to
need pharmacological help.
Natural Cycles promotes
an understanding of
female biology and
recommends regular tests.
In an independent study
conducted by Telt Magazine
in Glasgow, only one woman
out of 30 knew what any of
this meant and she was also
the only Natural Cycles user.
Some of the people I spoke
to in Glasgow talked of
religious restrictions on
contraception. Although
progress has been made,
Scotland’s poverty stricken
areas still show links to
depression, debilitating
mental health issues and fatal
disease to contraception.
One woman, Candice
Archuleta from New
Mexico needed emergency
surgery to remove a
hormonal implant that
had spread through her
veins from her arm to an
almost fatal position in
her heart. Candice’s story
is, unfortunately, not
uncommon. It strikes me
that there is a certified,
easily accessible, universal
contraceptive method that is
not recommended by health
care professionals or utilised
by young women.
I took the time to visit
sexual health clinics across
Glasgow and Edinburgh to
see if they would recommend
Natural Cycles to me. Each
time it was reiterated that
there are potential side
effects to all contraception
and it is just about finding
one that fits the individual. I
told one nurse I was worried
that I would not be able to
remember to take the pill
each day and she said it
was just a matter of habit. I
visited Dr Moria McGuigan
Photography by Jess McFadyen
Infographic by Jess McFadyen
who expressed concern
about Natural Cycles’
methods:
“[I am] surprised and
saddened that people are
being asked to pay an
annual subscription to
upload sensitive personal
and intimate data about
themselves onto the Internet
for someone ‘out there’ to
make decisions as to their
fertility or lack thereof.”
women were angry at the
assumption that the science
was too hard for women
to understand. Women
expressed concern that The
Guardian were speaking to a
louder feeling that women are
not capable of being in control
without the help of invasive
hormones.
Amanda Olson, who uses the
app, told Telt Magazine what
she thought of the review:
“[It is] interesting that the
criticisms are not really about
the algorithm and its efficacy,
but the ‘hassle’ involved
with daily temping, and with
abstaining or using a condom
on red days”.
One of the biggest criticisms
was that the app intruded too
much on the spontaneity of
sex and remaining abstinent
for half of a month was not
natural. For many young
women, the freedom of not
having to worry about fertile
or infertile days is what
appeals so much to them.
Another app user, Joanne
Wilderspin, said “remaining
abstinent for most of it
when you are running on
artificial hormones and have
no sex drive left is just as
unnatural”.
Perhaps the lack of interest
is linked to attitudes
regarding what women are
capable of doing. Reactions
Opinion is divided between
to a recent review of the
personalities, ages,
Natural Cycles app by The
relationship status, and it
Guardian newspaper showed
comes down to preference.
TELT: Winter Edition 19