Can I Take Covaryx During Pregnancy?
Covaryx™ (
esterified estrogens/methyltestosterone) is a prescription estrogen-and-testosterone medication. Pregnant women should not take the drug, as it can cause problems for female fetuses.
Covaryx and Pregnancy Category X
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) uses a category system to classify the possible risks to a fetus when a specific medicine is taken during pregnancy. Technically, the FDA has not given Covaryx any pregnancy Category rating because the drug has never been approved by the FDA. However, the manufacturer of Covaryx assumes that it is a pregnancy Category X drug, based on the ratings of similar medications.
Pregnancy Category X is given to medications that should not be used during pregnancy, usually due to serious problems that could occur, such as birth defects or miscarriages.
The estrogens in Covaryx probably will not cause any harm to a developing fetus, but they are of no benefit when used during pregnancy (estrogens do not prevent miscarriages or other problems).
More importantly, the testosterone in Covaryx can cause serious problems, especially for a female fetus. Testosterone hormones -- even given for a short time during pregnancy -- can cause virilization (masculinization) of the female fetus. This can result in ambiguous or male-like genitalia in a female.
