Platforming PCOS Treatment Online: FemTech Logics of Care
Taru Jain, Preeti Mudliar
Abstract
This paper explores how FemTech platforms appropriate the term ‘care’ to create a collaborative, non-judgmental, and data-driven approach for a sexual and reproductive health condition like Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). In contrast, offline healthcare for PCOS is insufficient owing to disruptions in treatment, gynaecological indifference, and a lack of time and attention to patient concerns. We share findings from an ethnographic study conducted in India, involving interviews and observations with FemTech platform founders, gynaecologists, and people with PCOS. Our study highlights how FemTech start-ups, led by engineering and management professionals, establish a unified digital care approach by capitalizing on the shortcomings of traditional offline gynaecological healthcare infrastructures. We identify the logics of care surrounding FemTech platforms and assess their sustainability as digital alternatives to offline gynaecological care. We offer recommendations to FemTech founders and policymakers to build sustainable and inclusive offline and online health infrastructures.