My Wife IS Pregnant - Can I Continue Finasteride?
Saturday, February 7th, 2009
Q:
Dear Mr. Mohebi,
I would like to ask you a question concerning possible side effects that finasteride (Propecia) may cause. I read on the manufacturers instructions that broken tablets must not be handled by women who are or may become pregnant. Can finasteride cause damage to pregnant women health or to the health of the developing fetus? Here I’d like to know also if finasteride can be found in body liquids such as men’s saliva, sweat or sperm? In such case is there any risk that a pregnant woman is exposed to finasteride? Are there any recommendations concerning taking or not propecia before planned or during wife’s pregnancy?
Could you please comment on this?
Thanks in advance.
Best regards,
A:
This is a common question that many of my young patients ask me. Finasteride (Propecia) blocks the conversion of testosterone to dihydroxytestostrone (DHT). DHT does not have any known role in adult men development, but it is crucial in development of a male fetus and child external genitalia (their penis). We at our Los Angeles, California hair transplant clinics don’t recommend taking finasteride for hair loss prevention and treatment before adulthood while maturation of external genitalia is not completed. Pregnant women should not take finasteride because of its effect on the external genitalia of their male unborn baby.
The pharmaceutical company (Merck) recommends that pregnant women or any women who might have a chance of being pregnant should not be exposed to finasteride. They should not even be cutting pills that might increase the chance of inhaling small particles of finasteride. You are right about finasteride being present in body secretion such as semen and saliva. However, the amount of the medication is so small that it is considered negligible or safe for pregnant women. So the research shows that it is safe for pregnant women to be exposed to the secretions of a man whom takes finasteride. That is why we do not recommend men to stop taking finasteride if their wife becomes pregnant. There has been no evidence of any risk to a male baby from secretion of finasteride through the father’s saliva, sweat or sperm.
