Sister, if you’re in a season of trying to conceive and feeling frustrated I want you to hear this first: God sees you. He is your strength even in the dry seasons. And He makes your feet like the feet of a deer, able to tread on new heights, even when the path feels impossibly hard.

In this podcast episode, I talk about something I am passionate about… and maybe get a little too fired up about. Because I want to have an honest conversation about fertility calculators, apps, and devices, and why relying on them alone might actually be keeping you from the answers you’re looking for.

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The Problem with “The App”

You know the one. The app that tells you when to have sex. The calculator that puts a little flower on the days you’re “fertile.” The device that tells you whether you’re in low, high, or peak fertility. These tools are everywhere, and they’re heavily marketed and make it all look so simple.

The problem is these apps like Flo, the American Pregnancy Association calculator, and others like them are built on one giant assumption: that every woman has a 28-day cycle with a perfect 14-day luteal phase. And that is just not reality for so many of us.

One of the most common reasons women struggle to conceive or experience miscarriage is a luteal phase defect, meaning her luteal phase might only be six or eight days instead of fourteen. The app doesn’t know that! And until you start truly tracking your cycle, you might not know it either.

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What About Hormone Testing Devices?

I’ll be honest… I love some of these devices. The Inito monitor is one of my favorites and I genuinely recommend it. But here’s my heart on this: if you buy a hormone tracking device and don’t pair it with a fertility awareness method, you’re getting about 10% of the picture. You’re picking one apple off the tree without understanding the whole tree.

These devices can give you beautiful, detailed data. But data without education is just noise. You need to know what you’re looking at, what it means for your specific body, and what to do about it. That’s where a real fertility awareness method comes in.

I’ve personally used these monitors for years and I will honestly tell you, I laugh at the app half the time because it’s wrong! Our bodies are so much more nuanced than any algorithm can capture. A device cannot observe your cervical mucus. It doesn’t know your symptoms. Only YOU can know those things. 

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A Word About “Little Gods”

I want to say something gently but clearly: when we’re desperately wanting a baby, it is so easy to let these apps and devices become the first thing we think about in the morning and the last thing we check at night. And without even realizing it, they can start to take up the space in our hearts that belongs to the Lord. They become idols. 

I’ve been there. I’m not throwing stones. But reproduction is a sacred, spiritual thing. It is an act of God. And I think we do ourselves a disservice when we hand over that trust to a computer screen. Technology is a gift, and these tools have their place. But God is first. Always.

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So What Should You Do Instead?

Learn a fertility awareness method! I know…  it sounds old school. Paper charts. Colored pencils. But I promise you, it is one of the most empowering things you can do for your fertility journey. Here’s why it matters:

• Know if your cycles are healthy: You’ll be able to see exactly what’s going on in each phase of your cycle and identify where things might be struggling.
• Know when to time intercourse: Not based on an algorithm, but based on your actual body and what it’s telling you.
• Monitor the health of your ovulation: Abnormalities before, during, or after ovulation can make conception harder, and a fertility awareness method helps you see and address those things.

Inside Fertility Framework, we learn FEMM, which stands for Fertility Education and Medical Management. The education covers cervical mucus, hormone education, LH testing, and more. And then we go even deeper with basal body temperature tracking and urinary hormone monitoring devices used in conjunction with your paper chart. It’s a full, beautiful picture of what your body is doing.

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