Freedom from Religion, BigPharma and BigData: Current Trends in the Market of Fertility Awareness and Cycle Tracking

This paper explores the emerging markets of fertility awareness (FA) and menstrual cycle tracking (CT), emphasizing their intersections with religious, economic, feminist, scientific, and technocratic frameworks. Historically linked to religious contexts (like Catholic Natural Family Planning), FA has largely secularized, reflecting tensions between religious heritage, secularism, and women’s rights in the digital age. Drawing on qualitative research in North America, the study highlights a shift from couples teaching couples to women teaching women, alongside competing economic models: collaborative, non-profit approaches versus entrepreneurial, neoliberal frameworks. These dynamics reveal power struggles over knowledge access, affordability, and inclusivity. The research emphasizes how FA and CT navigate the interplay of religion and economy, and highlights resistance to technocratic control through low-tech, empowering practices. This presentation of selected results from a broader study contributes to discussions on reproductive economies, ethics, and the commodification of body literacy in post-secular contexts.