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Some content creators on TikTok claim that herbal teas and psychic readings can increase the chances of conception.
But many of the dubious-sounding suggestions shared on the platform, which also include eating pineapples, are not endorsed by the UK’s NHS.
Posts on fertility trends have amassed over a billion views, with ‘fertility influencers’, posting the claims, gaining tens of thousands of followers .
Experts warn that these people are giving women the wrong hope, who may be willing to try anything in their quest to have children.
For its part, TikTok said that
does not allow people to post medical misinformation that could cause harm . However, the social media giant argued that the posts flagged by MailOnline are not “medical” so they don’t have to be accurate. Conflicting information
Professor Joyce Harper, a reproductive scientist at the University College London, said: “What really irritates me are the things that people sell.”
“The big problem is that many people in social networks are not the researchers of the doctors who actually do this work, many of them are influencers from a variety of backgrounds.”
“Many of them are doing a great job, but some of the information is not scientifically correct.”
The large amount of conflicting information can make it difficult to that women struggling with fertility problems know what advice is the right one, she argued.
On TikTok alone, posts with the hashtag #ttccommunity, which stands for trying to conceive, have received over 1200 million of visits.
Meanwhile, #eggretrieval has more than 54 millions of views and #unexplainedinfertility 28,4 million views.
A survey by the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists ( RCOG) revealed that the 54 % of 80 women between 11 and 54 years were not sure if the fertility information they they had found was unbiased and unbiased.
Brands like @hiprettyyoni and @pinkstork seem to be trying to sell products, including fertility teas, gummy supplements, and pills. The couple has 54.9K followers between them.
These teas can cost up to $ 28 (£ ) , contain herbs packed with antioxidants, plant-based progesterone, and anti-inflammatories.
The theory is that the progesterone-like substance in the tea might help helps people conceive because it is chemically similar to natural progesterone, which is produced naturally by the ovaries.
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