‘We were at a loss’: the couples trying to get pregnant by removing plastics from their lives

2026-03-14 - 15:23

New Netflix documentary The Plastic Detox follows an epidemiologist’s radical new plan to boost fertility in three months. We meet the couples whose lives were turned upside down – and in some cases, hugely for the better Two years into an emotionally draining mission to get pregnant, with no sign of a positive result, Idaho couple Darby and Jesse Nubbe were feeling desperate. “We were $16,000 (£12,000) out of pocket, with weekly blood work, invasive ultrasounds, sperm quality testing, genetic testing, eating well, exercising, daily cold plunging, expensive vitamins, excessive pregnancy testing and more tears than I would like to remember,” Darby tells me. “We were at a loss, with an official diagnosis of ‘unexplained infertility’.” It hadn’t crossed the couple’s minds that the problem might be the everyday products inside their home, from water bottles to clothes. Then Dr Shanna Swan entered their lives. Continue reading...