The future of fertility is green

Femtech World spoke to Lara Solomon, founder of Hoopsy, to discuss the importance of sustainability for fertility products.

Last year Lara Solomon underwent IVF treatment. After having an embryo transfer the waiting time is two weeks.

What Lara found out through Facebook surveys was that women who underwent embryo transfer were already testing on day five which included testing morning and night until day ten or 11. 

Using a few tests per day, all made of plastic, put the thought of plastic overconsumption in the back of Lara’s mind.

This was when she started looking at fertility products such as pregnancy tests and available alternatives.

“Why isn’t there a more environmentally friendly version?” Said Lara. “I started looking into that and I realised that it was possible to make it environmentally friendly.”

Hoopsy developed a pregnancy test that is 99 per cent paper where the only piece of plastic exists so that the chemicals of the test don’t evaporate. 

An image of Hoopsy pregnancy test

“Creating a poll in a Facebook group, I asked women how many tests they used on their journeys so far, and the result was that 62 per cent of them took more than one hundred,” said Lara.

In addition to being nearly completely paper-made, the test does not occupy a big space in landfill, which is currently a big problem in the UK. In the US 200 kilos of pregnancy tests end up in the landfills every year.

“People buy pregnancy tests all the time, so why not buying one that works the same of the others but that benefits the environment?” Added Lara. “You don’t have to change the way you take the test and price is the same if not cheaper.”

“To help the environment there are very easy things that people can do: shampoo bars, old school soaps etc.

“Another thing people could so is to buy from eco shops which give a good alternative to plastic products. There are also loads of Facebook groups where you can get tips and ideas as well.

“There is so much that could be done but the many options make it harder to start. Looking at the small things and making small changes is what is important. You may think that one plastic bottle does not make a difference but overtime it does. When you can, make a choice that is more sustainable and do that as much as you can.”

A regular pregnancy test, mainly made of plastic

Lara also highlighted the importance of educating women about fertility: “when I was in my 20s it was all about not getting pregnant but I was never really aware of how much your fertility drops over the years. Being aware of your fertility age is important. You need to be aware that it may not be as easy as you think.

“This doesn’t mean that you need to have a baby right now, but it means that if you want to you ,maybe you should start looking at your options like freezing your eggs.

One of the reasons why people nowadays struggle with fertility is because of climate change and the environment and that is why the overconsumption of single use plastic is horrifying .”