Is it safe to make a woman pregnant while using Dutasteride (Avodart)?

Hello and thank you for your great question. I was not able to find any clinical studies regarding this topic. However it is my personal opinion that being safe is better than being sorry. I suggest discontinuing the medication a few months before you're trying to conceive and a few months after your partner becomes pregnant. I wish you the very best.Dr. T

Great question. It is a frequent concern (medication and congenital abnormalities) of my male patients taking Finasteride and/or Dutasteride. No, I haven't seen any data or human studies of congenital deformities of the newborn babies of the partners of those men taking Finasteride or Dutasteride. But there are some studies in animals.  If my male patient is taking Finasteride and/or Dutasteride and he and his partner are planning a baby in the future, I usually recommend him to discontinue the medication for few months (2-3 months) before and after the pregnancy date. Hair loss can be seen after discontinuing the medication and it is important to keep applying Minoxidil 5% too. I will suggest to discuss the main issue in detail with the doctor that prescribed the medication too. Good luck.    

For finasteride users who ask me this question and are worried about pregnancy, I tell them to time the dose of finasteride and start it on the day of your wife's period for 7 days, stop it for two weeks, and then start again through her period for 7 days. This will guarantee that the drug can't be in the blood stream during conception; however, with the long half life for dutasteride, I don't know what to recommend. There haven't been reports of pregnancy problems that I am aware of.