Finasteride During Pregnancy

Taking finasteride during pregnancy may potentially cause harm to a fetus. Finasteride is classified as a pregnancy Category X medicine, which means problems were seen in the fetus during animal studies or in humans who had mistakenly taken the medicine. Because of these possible risks, women who are or may be pregnant should not take finasteride or even touch broken finasteride tablets during pregnancy.

 

Is Proscar Safe During Pregnancy? -- An Overview

For women who are pregnant, finasteride (marked under the brand names Propecia® and Proscar®) is very dangerous. This is based on animal studies that looked at the effects of finasteride during pregnancy. Finasteride has been given a pregnancy Category X classification based on its risks to an unborn fetus.
 

Finasteride and Pregnancy Category X

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a pregnancy category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Pregnancy Category X is given to medicines that show problems to the fetus in animal studies or in humans who have mistakenly taken the medicine. The use of a pregnancy Category X medicine during pregnancy is not recommended.
 
Finasteride should not be used in women who are pregnant or may become pregnant. In fact, women who are or may be pregnant should not even touch broken or crushed finasteride tablets.
 

Finasteride, Pregnancy, and Birth Defects

Finasteride works by blocking the conversion of testosterone into DHT (dihydrotestosterone), which decreases the amount of DHT in the body. Since DHT is important for male genital development, if taken during pregnancy, finasteride may cause abnormalities to the external genitals of a male fetus.
 
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Written by/reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD; Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Kristi Monson, PharmD;