This Influencer’s Sex Challenge Birthed 150 New Babies!

As avid social media users, it’s safe to say that we’ve taken part in our fair share of online movements. Still, this one takes the cake: Sara Buckley, the comedian behind the popular Instagram account Not the Worst Mom, set up a seven-day sex challenge for her audience…and accidentally influenced a micro baby boom.

It originally surfaced as a post on Instagram Stories: After ongoing conversations with her husband, Sterling, about how to keep your sex lives going when you have a house full of young kids on their podcast, “Not the Worst Marriage,” Buckley decided to encourage her audience to put themselves in the driver’s seat.

“I have a marriage challenge to throw out there,” her IGS post began. “Wives, I challenge you for the next seven days…to actively pursue your husband sexually. Try to have sex four to five times in the next seven days.” In a series of slides, Buckley goes on to lay out the details: The challenge isn’t just about sex, it’s about intentionally pursuing your partner, she explains. Maybe that’s a dirty text or wearing something a little bit sexy or simply having a spontaneous make-out session. The goal was clear: Amp up the passion, then send her an update on how it goes. (Buckley was also quick to note that this challenge wasn’t for anyone married to a dud—it was more, if you love your partner, prioritize that passion. That’s it.)

“Moms are tired and there is nothing more exhausting than those early years,” Buckley explains. “I also personally think there is no group that deserves regular orgasms more than a wife and mother.”

For reference, Buckley—who lives in Las Vegas—has been married to her husband for 21 years. They met when she was 12, then she married him at 18. By age 21, they had three kids. All throughout, she acknowledges that they’ve had a very healthy sex life. “Even when the kids were young, we were having sex between 7 and 10 times a week,” she says. “People often ask, ‘What’s your number?’ about couple’s sex lives. It sounds like a humblebrag, but sex has always been a huge priority to us both.”

Back to the challenge: Buckley credits her encouraging (as opposed to shaming) tone for its success, but she was the most surprised when she started getting DMs from members of her online community with pregnancy news. “I got DMs from my audience with things like, ‘Whoops, I’m pregnant,’” she says. “In the beginning, those messages felt like one-offs, but then I started to hear from more and more women worldwide.” At approximately 150 and counting, Buckley can attest: Her Instagram challenge spawned a real deal baby boom. Now, as pics of so many babies stream in, she even has a name for them: Sara’s Tots.

“My challenge had nothing to do with getting pregnant, yet here we are,” she laughs. “I’ve heard from so many women who are shocked by the outcome and their positive pregnancy tests—women who were struggling with fertility and felt like sex had become a chore. They saw the challenge and said, ‘You know what? Let’s do this. Let’s have sex just for fun again.’ Then, they got pregnant.”

As for Buckley’s own sex advice for married couples, she has a two-minute trick to get in the mood after a long, exhausting day. “Take a shower,” she says. “Even if it’s the second one of the day, it works.” She said communication also matters. “If you know that by the end of the day, you’re always exhausted, anticipate that and cut something else out. Get McDonald’s for dinner, ignore the laundry. You have to make time for it.”

What’s next for Sara’s Tots? Her dream scenario would be a baby shower. “I desperately want all of these babies and their moms to come to Las Vegas for a meetup. If I put it out there, maybe it will happen.”