FUTURE HUMAN
Is This Trendy $330 Fertility Thermometer a Ripoff?
Scientists are questioning research about its effectiveness
In 1935, German priest Wilhelm Hillebrand encountered an important problem: Many of his church attendees were having unwanted pregnancies. Instead of turning a blind eye to the issue, Hillebrand sought to resolve it. He recalled reading a chapter in a book by Dutch physician Theodoor Hendrik van de Velde — called Ideal Marriage — which was on the Roman Catholic Church’s list of forbidden books, or the Index Librorum Prohibitorum.
Hillebrand’s sharp memory helped him recall that the corpus luteum — structures inside an ovary that secrete progesterone — influence body temperature. So he decided to conduct an experiment. Using a clinical thermometer, Hillebrand monitored the daily temperature cycles of 21 women for six months, between August and December 1935, and found that body temperatures are elevated during ovulation. He went on to produce the first temperature-based method for birth control and was later awarded an honorary doctorate from Albert University of Cologne.
Today, more sophisticated methods of monitoring fertility and preventing unwanted pregnancies exist. In the United States, among all women who use contraceptives, around 3 percent are now using…
