Mother's Little Helper: How AI Is Reshaping Fertility Care

"It writes our emails, suggests recipes, maps out vacations, and responds to our deepest thoughts at 2 a.m. In many ways, AI is wonderful-it responds to everyone and discriminates against no one. It is the best mother's helper we have had in a long time. But when that little helper steps into the fertility clinic, things shift. It alters stories of how families begin; it shapes our understanding of biology, how doctors make decisions, and how technology enters the most intimate parts of our lives."

"AI in fertility is moving faster than the law. In the United States, oversight is patchy. In Europe, stricter rules are just beginning to take shape. Elsewhere, regulations are still in development. For patients, that means the technology may be available before clear protections are in place. Some of these changes bring profound hope and relief. Others raise unsettling questions."

"AI-based trackers now go further, analyzing heart rate, sleep, and temperature to create a more personal profile (Lyzwinski, Elgendi, & Menon, 2024). In short, the same type of algorithm that powers your fitness watch is now being used to "read" your fertility. But are we deepening our body awareness, or outsourcing it to machines? On one hand, AI can sharpen accuracy and reduce uncertainty."

Artificial intelligence now inhabits many everyday tools and is entering fertility care, changing how families begin and how biology and medical decisions are understood. Regulatory systems lag: oversight in the United States is patchy, Europe is beginning stricter rules, and other regions are still developing regulations, exposing patients to technologies before protections exist. AI-based fertility trackers analyze heart rate, sleep, and temperature to build personalized profiles, potentially improving accuracy and reducing uncertainty. Those tools can also undermine self-trust, foster dependence, and intensify feelings that one’s own body cannot be trusted. Embryo choice in IVF is a high-stakes area where algorithmic assessment matters.

Read at Psychology Today