Beyond the Pink Label

The global Femtech market had an estimated value of $60.9 billion in 2025 and is projected to more than double in size by 2034, growing at nearly 9 percent annually. Yet even as devices and diagnostics focused on menstruation, fertility, menopause, sexual health, and skincare and beauty draw unprecedented investment and attention, for the engineers building devices around women’s needs, the hurdles are as much cultural as they are scientific. Gaps in gender-specific data, skepticism about women as a primary user base, and stigma and taboo create a persistent sense that “serious” engineering lives somewhere else. But for the engineers building those products, the story is more complicated than a bullish market forecast. The work is technical, certainly, but it’s also deeply personal, and often emotionally exhausting.