Women say they got pregnant after taking GLP-1 drugs
Women on social media are sharing stories of becoming pregnant after taking GLP-1 medications, saying the drugs helped them conceive after struggling with infertility. Many of the videos have garnered millions of views on TikTok.
Molly Orr is among the women documenting her experience online.
In an interview that aired on "Good Morning America" on Thursday, Orr said she was diagnosed with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, a common hormonal disorder that can make it harder to become pregnant.
She said she was once told she would never conceive naturally. After hearing other women say a GLP-1 medication helped improve their PCOS symptoms, Orr decided to try one herself. About a year later, she became pregnant.
"I really didn't have my hopes up, but when that test turned positive for like, I was ovulating, I was just floored," Orr said. "I remember getting so excited."
Orr said the medication did more than help her lose weight.
"Just a medication that not only helped me lose weight -- that's really hard to do with PCOS -- things that my body wouldn't do on its own," she said.
Orr is not alone.
Areli Ruiz told "GMA" she was diagnosed with secondary infertility after having her first daughter 17 years ago. She later began taking a GLP-1 medication and said she became pregnant eight months later.
"Eight months later I got pregnant. And then that was my first one," Ruiz said. "I was like, I'm going to get on the GLP again ... got pregnant six months later, did it another time, got pregnant one month after again. So three GLP babies."
After posting about her experience on TikTok, Ruiz said she discovered other women sharing similar stories in the comments.
"They're posting their babies in my comments, my GLP twins, my GLP baby," Ruiz said. "A lot of them went through infertility, the same exact journey and they have their GLP babies. It's crazy."
Dr. Katherine Saunders told "GMA" stories like Orr's and Ruiz's do not mean GLP-1 medications are fertility treatments.
"It's not that these medications are fertility medications per se," Saunders said. "But for women who have insulin resistance, once they treat the metabolic pathways that have been dysregulated because of obesity and because of insulin resistance, women can actually improve their fertility whether they realize it or not."
Saunders said whether a GLP-1 medication may improve fertility depends on a woman's individual medical condition and should be discussed with her health care provider.
"There's so much information spreading about everything related to GLP-1s right now," Saunders explained. "These situations are very personal decisions that depend on a woman's medical condition, depend on the timing and the choice of medication that she's taking, and these should always, always, always be discussed with that woman's own prescribing clinician."
Saunders also said tirzepatide, sold under the brand names Mounjaro and Zepbound, carries an FDA warning about use with oral birth control.
The FDA recommends using a backup method of contraception or switching to a non-oral form of birth control for the first four weeks after starting the medication and for four weeks after every dose increase.
