Clomid is among America’s most commonly used fertility drugs. It is also one of the oldest fertility drugs on the market, approved in 1967.

Clomid is part of the ovulatory stimulant drug family, which work by inducing ovulation in women who cannot produce their own eggs, or have trouble even entering ovulation. One wrinkle to using the drug, however, is its link to birth defects.

A study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and numerous reports to the Food and Drug Administration about birth defects led Clomid to be placed in Category X, which is  reserved for drugs with the highest pregnancy risk. This means Clomid should not be used during pregnancy, and should only be used under strict medical supervision.

Pre-clinical studies of Clomid show that the drug caused harm to animal fetuses. The FDA recommends that women who are, or soon may become, pregnant not use this drug.

Overview of Clomid Birth Defects Concern

Experts warn that Clomid birth defects are most likely when women use them outside of medical supervision. To avoid an expensive prescription, many women buy a Clomid prescription online and use it on their own.

This is a problem because physicians instruct Clomid patients to only try to get pregnant when the drug is out of their systems. Therefore, Clomid is prescribed with a strict dose cycle, which is risky to deviate from.

The birth defects associated with Clomid can range from minor facial defects, to major complications like cardiac malformations.

A five-year study by the CDC analyzed women who used Clomid in two months before conception to the first month of their pregnancies. This study has become one of the most compelling pieces of evidence of Clomid birth defects.

This study, published in the November 2010 issue of Human Reproduction, used the databank of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study, which was a controlled population study that centered around major birth defects.

Women from 10 states were affected by at least one of 30 birth defects, from mothers who delivered live infants from October 1997 to December 2005. Clomid was reportedly used by 1.4% of women in this study, which showed the highest correlation to birth defects compared to any other fertility method.

The birth defects associated with Clomid include:

• Congenital heart lesions and anomalies
• Down’s Syndrome
• Club foot
• Cleft lip and/or cleft palate
• Undescended testicles
• Spina bifida
• Blindness
• Hernia (inguinal and umbilical)
• Muscular ventricular septal defects

Families affected by Clomid birth defects should seek legal advice in order to receive possible compensation.