Is it safe to stop taking Finasteride whilst trying for a baby?

Question

Hello, I have been taking Finasteride since a HT a couple of years ago. My partner and I are trying for a baby and it's taken longer than we anticipated so I am considering coming off of Finasteride for a week or so. I'm just wondering if I do this, will I reverse the impact of it or is a week ok? We have one child together and I wasn't on Finasteride when conceived. It only took a couple of months of trying. Thanks in advance

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

The full answer to your question is much more involved than the short answer. If having another child is important then a full evaluation of both the male and female partner is important here. For my male patients who say to me “we really want a second child”... getting a sperm count at this juncture could make alot of sense. So could repeating it again off finasteride if in fact sperm counts are a bit low from being on finasteride. What you have described is reasonable in some ways but if stopping is not planned with your partner’s cycle and if stopping does not have anyy objective parameters to follow... it may not be the “ideal” plan. The full answer to your question comes after a comprehensive examination of both the male and female.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

Many men worry about taking finasteride while they are trying to conceive so what I often advise, is to stop the medication for two weeks, (one week after the period starts and one week prior to it starting). As finasteride is essentially out of the blood in a day, that solves the problem. There have been no reports that I read that men who take finasteride and conceive babies have ever seen a problem with their children.

Is it safe to stop taking Finasteride whilst trying for a baby?

Answers (2)

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