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 huge rise in abortions.

Figures show 69 per cent of Gen Z women aged 18 to 24 have used the apps.

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Another study showed that the number seeking abortions after using fertility apps has surged six-fold in five years.

And the likes of Corrie actress Lucy Fallon, former Towie star Lucy Mecklenburgh and Love Islanders Olivia Bowen, Montana Brown and Olivia Attwood have all been paid to endorse some of them.

Women use the tech to monitor their menstrual cycles and ovulation, prepare for periods and work out fertile windows — as they turn away from hormonal contraceptives.

Molly-Mae Hague shared her experience of trying the Flo app — used by more than 420million people worldwide — in an Instagram Q&A in 2022 for which she was not paid.

The Love Islander, 25, who was then dating fellow Love Islander Tommy Fury, spoke out seven months before she announced the birth of the pair’s daughter Bambi, who is now two.

The influencer, who has 8.5million followers, told fans: “I use the Flo app to track my fertile point of the month” but added: “I don’t recommend this if you want something safer/more accurate.”

Flo, costing from £2.50 a month for a yearly plan, states it should not be used as a method of contraception.

But many women do use it that way — including teaching assistant Amanda Duddridge, 39, who is now warning women to be careful.

She became pregnant in 2023 with her third child while using Flo, which asks users to input details about the length of their cycles.

Amanda, 39, of Pontypridd, South Wales, was already mum to Esmee, ten, and five-year-old Elvie when she and her partner, customer services adviser Grafton Welsh, 40, found out that they were expecting Elodie, now ten months.

She told the Sun on Sunday: “These apps carry disclaimers like, ‘Speak to a healthcare professional first’ or, ‘Don’t use without another contraceptive’ but many people don’t read the fine print.

“Add to that the celebrity endorse-ments and many women use these apps thinking they are bulletproof.

“I felt angry at myself and the app. Our daughter is amazing and I wouldn’t change what happened for a second but I’ve learnt my lesson.

“Women need to think for them-selves and not just rely on what a celebrity says — especially when they are being paid to promote an app.

“I’d read reports about Flo’s groundbreaking options for women and seen people on social media talking about how brilliant it was.

“I used it to track my cycle, and for help to get pregnant with Elvie. Then I used it to track my cycle for contraception purposes.

"I didn’t want chemicals in my body. I’d been so careful but it didn’t work for me.

“A six-fold increase in terminations among Gen-Z women is shocking and I blame the apps.

"Young people assume they offer ‘super-protection’ but using it without putting in the correct information can result in pregnancy.

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

Many of the most popular fertility apps work alongside devices that monitor body temperature or hormones.

Others, like Flo, are period trackers and only ask for details including menstrual cycle length before indicating the days that women are likely to be most or least fertile.

Flo is not endorsed by UK influencers but Natural Cycles is. It bills itself as “natural birth control”, with no hormones or side-effects, and works alongside devices that monitor body heat.

It has been classed as a medical device but states it is 93 per cent effective “with typical use” and 98 per cent “with perfect use”.

An annual subscription works out at £6.66 a month and celebrities offer discount codes — while warning the app may not work for everyone.

Olivia Bowen, 31, whose son Abel was born in 2022, told her three million followers in June: “I’m all for choosing a non-hormonal, non- invasive birth control method.

“That’s why I am once again teaming up with @naturalcycles to help spread the word about their science-backed, side-effect-free birth-control app.”

‘Swayed by influencers’

The reality star added: “We’re all different — what’s right for me may not be right for you.

"But Natural Cycles has helped me to gain a better understanding of my body.

"The app supports women through different phases of their fertility journey and can be used as birth control to prevent pregnancy or as a tool when trying to conceive.

“If you are interested in testing Natural Cycles for yourself, use my code . . . to get 15% off your annual subscription and a free thermometer at .”

Meanwhile Olivia’s fellow Love Islander Olivia Attwood, 33, described Natural Cycles as “like the golden ticket” in a 2021 Instagram post to her 2.3million followers.

She added: “I can avoid un-planned pregnancy, track my cycles and don’t have to put anything foreign into my body.”

In 2024, Made In Chelsea star Tiffany Watson, 31, hailed Natural Cycles as “the best non-hormonal and non-invasive birth control” in a post to her 570,000 followers.

Corrie’s Lucy Fallon, 29, called it “amazing” in 2023, in a post to her 598,000 followers after giving birth.

She was thrilled “not only to be able to prevent pregnancy naturally but also to learn patterns of my cycle and when my body starts ovulating again”.

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Her post talks about the effectiveness of Natural Cycles and how to use it, and says it is officially approved here in the UK. She offered a discount code for followers wishing to subscribe.

Towie’s Lucy Mecklenburgh, 33, also claimed to love the product, after struggling with contra-ceptives that had side-effects.

She says: “All I do is measure my temperature each morning 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 analysis of British Pregnancy Advisory Service data explored which contraception methods women who requested abortions in England and Wales were using when they became pregnant.

It showed a six-fold rise between 2018 and 2023 in women using fertility awareness-based methods at conception, while the average age of women using these methods fell from almost 30 to 27.

It also showed women taking hormonal contraceptives such as the Pill fell by 7.5 per cent.

NHS data confirms the use of natural family planning has more than doubled in a decade.

Figures from the Department of Health show that in 2022 in England and Wales there were 251,377 abortions — the highest number since the Abortion Act almost 60 years ago and 17 per cent up on 2021.

Women’s health expert Dr Tamsin Lewis told us: “It is easy to be swayed by endorsements but these are often paid promotions, not vetted medical advice. It’s critical to read the fine print.”

Several factors can be influencing our cycles, so it’s difficult to use an app to completely map that

Dr Raj Arora

The FemTech (female technology) industry the apps have grown from is now a billion-dollar business.

There are scores of apps available which can be useful to women who want to track their cycle.

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

NHS GP and women’s health expert Dr Raj Arora warns things such as stress and illness can affect periods and the readings when relying on some apps.

She says: “Several factors can be influencing our cycles, so it’s difficult to use an app to completely map that and to know we are going to achieve a certain date of safe ovulation 100 per cent correctly.

"That’s why it increases the risks of pregnancy if using it purely for birth control. It’s not going to be potentially as accurate as taking a more traditional form of birth control.”

Sarah Salkeld, of MSI Reproductive Choices UK, which specialises in support for people considering an abortion, told us: “If there’s a market people will produce things. but some are expensive and don’t have medical evidence to back them.”

A spokesman for Natural Cycles said it worked with influencers but such marketing was “minimal”.

They added: “No, the rise in abortions is not due to women being unable to follow instructions. Women’s ability to make informed health decisions has long been underestimated.”

A Mira spokesman said it had not positioned itself as a contraception tool and it is not a period- or fertility-tracking app but an at-home hormone monitor that uses an app to transmit data to smart-phones.

They added: “We always suggest using additional protective measures.”

Flo was approached for comment.