Fertility awareness has revolutionized the lives of many women, allowing them the power to gain control over their reproductive health by natural means. Whether you are trying to conceive or avoid pregnancy, methods like the Justisse Method offer powerful insights into your body’s unique cycle. Understanding one’s reproductive health can be empowering. I used this method when attempting to conceive and ended up conceiving right away.

The Justisse method offers a detailed, secular, scientific-based fertility awareness method. It helps women track their menstrual cycles using cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and other biological signs to determine their fertility windows. The method involves tracking daily fertility signals. Doing so can help with natural contraception or fertility, understanding hormone health, and general cycle well-being. The Justisse method provides more individualized tracking based on biofeedback. Unlike traditional natural family planning methods rooted in religion, the Justisse method offers a secular and inclusive approach, making it accessible for individuals of all backgrounds who seek non-hormonal fertility management.

There are a few other methods of natural family planning like the Creighton Model and the Sympto-Thermal Method (STM). The Creighton Model uses cervical mucus tracking for achieving or avoiding pregnancy and is particularly favored in Catholic communities due to its alignment with religious teachings. The STM combines fertility indicators like cervical mucus, basal body temperature, and position. By tracking these daily signs, women predict their fertile windows. It is also a highly accurate method as it uses multiple fertility indicators and gives a comprehensive understanding of a woman’s cycle. The STM can also be used in irregular periods and can be used for natural fertility or contraception. The most effective method is the one that fits your lifestyle and is followed consistently. 

After struggling with hormone imbalances for years, one of my patients used the Justisse method to not only manage her fertility but also uncover underlying health issues. This led to a healthier lifestyle and eventually a successful pregnancy. When used perfectly, fertility awareness methods can have an effectiveness rate of over 95% for contraception. With typical use, the effectiveness rate ranges from 88-95%. The key to success is tracking consistently. 80-90% of couples will conceive within 6-12 months of using the Justisse method to aid conception, assuming they have no underlying fertility health issues.

 The Justisse method can improve the chances of conception in comparison to couples not using any fertility tracking methods, who have a 20-25% chance of conception per cycle under the age of 30.

- Dr. Sushma Sadula

There are many benefits to fertility awareness like body literacy, hormone health monitoring, personal empowerment, and avoiding side effects of hormonal contraception. Many women prefer these methods since they are eco-friendly and align with their values, e.g., avoiding synthetic hormones. Learning about your cycle can be empowering, and help foster a deep connection with your body. They can also increase communication and shared responsibility between partners. Fertility awareness methods go beyond birth control. They offer an eco-friendly, side-effect-free alternative to hormonal contraception and provide women with a powerful tool to understand and connect with their bodies.

There is a growing interest in non-hormonal, body-based approaches among women looking to conceive or avoid pregnancy naturally.

Learning about fertility awareness can be intimidating at first,
but becomes easier with practice and support.