Have been doing a lot of literature searching today - looking at peer reviewed research on the use of various self-tests and monitors women can use to detect periods of low and high fertility.
These are used both as methods of natural contraception, and to assist those actively trying to enhance their changes of conceiving.
They have become fairly high tech recently, and some are systems rather than devices, using online data records and incorporating interactivity.
There is also a lot of money to be made/spent on these technologies. While there is a literature on their efficacy in terms of 'hard outcomes' (conception/non-conception being the most obvious) I've not seen much on the psychosocial impact of using them.
Meanwhile, I have been enjoying watching a big icicle wax and wane outside my study window in the course of the day...
