“The primary purpose of passing laws to control women’s fertility is to obscure the fact that it’s not possible to control our fertility.” — Yolande Norris-Clark
The recent overturn of Roe v. Wade in the United States has led to a great deal of discussion around women’s rights and the ever heated subject of abortion. Yet, despite all the conversation surrounding these recent changes, it is rarely acknowledged that while laws might be passed indicating otherwise, women will always own their fertility. Modern females have all but forgotten this, but for thousands of years, women have been avoiding & releasing pregnancies, entirely outside of the system and without permission from anyone.
Now, this isn’t me advocating for sketchy back alley abortions. I don’t see that as a good solution. Instead, this is a call to something bigger and much more powerful — a reclamation of our fertility. I recognize that this is a foreign notion in a culture that teaches us to be ashamed of our our bodies, to disconnect from our monthly rhythms, and ultimately to disassociate from our feminine power. But, there is a wild woman inside of you that knows the way back.
One of the best ways to avoid abortion is to educate ourselves (and other woman) on how to not get pregnant in the first place. This is another aspect of the conversation around abortion that is rarely mentioned. No matter which side of this issue you are on, I think we can all agree that abortion is not the ideal solution to unwanted pregnancy.
In mainstream culture, the birth control pill or a hormonal IUD are the common solutions for contraception. But, these medications can have some serious health implications, including increased risk of blood clots, stroke & cancer, disruption of the gut flora, decreased thyroid levels, increased inflammation, and depletion of essential nutrients.
There is more holistic approach to avoiding unwanted pregnancy. But, conscious contraception requires a bit more effort and personal responsibility than conventional methods. It involves tuning in to the body, listening to its rhythms, and totally owning our fertility.
Fertility Awareness Method
Did you know that most women are fertile for only a few days per month? You’d be surprised how many modern women don’t actually know this basic biological fact. There’s no shame if that was you! This awareness is the first step to reclaiming your fertility.
A woman’s egg can only live up to 24 hours. Two or more eggs may be released over a maximum time period of 24 hours. So, technically a woman is fertile for only a day or two. A man’s sperm, however, can live for up to 5 days in fertile mucus (they only usually live a couple of hours to 3 days in drier, less fertile mucus). So this means there’s a window of about a week where a woman could get pregnant each month.
While normal cycle lengths are 21-35 days (28 days being “average”), monthly cycles will vary among women, and will fluctuate for each individual, as well. The Fertility Awareness Method (FAM) is a way to determine if a woman is fertile on any given day. It is a useful tool for all women, not just those wanting to avoid pregnancy. When practiced consistently, it’s a wonderful way to tune into your body and to learn & better understand her rhythms.
The Fertility Awareness Method is scientifically validated. It involves observing the three primary fertility signs: cervical fluid, waking temperature, & cervical position each and every day and charting them throughout the month. Observing changes to cervical position is optional, as the other two signs will give a good indication of fertile status, but it can certainly be noted for extra clarity. As a woman approaches ovulation, there will be obvious changes that indicate the woman is nearing her fertile phase.
If used correctly every cycle, and you abstain from intercourse or utilize a barrier method during the fertile phase (about 8-10 days per cycle), FAM has a very low failure rate — only 2% per year. This is lower than any other barrier method, besides condoms which also have a failure rate of about 2%. It should be noted that if the barrier method you are utilizing during the fertile phase has a higher failure rate than 2%, the failure rate should be adjusted based on the specific method you are utilizing.
To be clear, FAM is not the rhythm method, which is an ineffective method of birth control that utilizes data collected on past cycles to predict future fertility.
I highly recommend reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility by Toni Weschler to learn all the specifics of using Fertility Awareness Method to avoid pregnancy. The Free Birth Society podcast episode FAM: Understanding The Basics Of The Fertility Awareness Method and the Fertility Friday podcast, episode 398: Using Fertility Awareness for Birth Control both give a great overview of how to utilize this method for contraception.
There are of course, times where things don’t go as planned, whether it be a barrier method failure (i.e. the condom breaks), a heat of the moment situation, or rape. In these situations, FAM is still an essential first piece.
