Can Ozempic Help You Get Pregnant?

TOP OF MIND

What the heck is an Ozempic baby?
Weight-loss medication Ozempic has been in the news a lot lately, thanks to celebrities in Hollywood treating the drug like candy, in some weird competition to see who can be the skinniest Avenger. What happened to body positivity?

Anyway, now Ozempic (and other similar drugs) are making headlines because there's speculation on the internet that it's sparking pregnancy in women who previously couldn't get pregnant.

On the Ozempic subreddit, there's multiple comments from women who got pregnant while on the drug, even though they were on birth control and/or struggled with infertility.

One user wrote, “Since my last pregnancy required a lengthy fertility process, I assumed, at 40! It couldn’t be. Well, I’m pregnant! It wasn’t what we were planning but a welcome surprise!"

But can Ozempic really make you more fertile? Well, it's complicated.

The important bits
32-year-old Oliviara started taking Ozempic the day after Thanksgiving to help lose excess weight that had been negatively impacting her health. She was on birth control at the time, but didn't always take it regularly because she had a history of fertility issues.

Two months after starting Ozempic, she learned she was pregnant. And she's not the only one. As mentioned above, several women have experienced the same exact thing, and even doctors are noticing this trend inside their offices.

Dr. Iman Saleh, told PEOPLE the following:

But why is this happening? Doctors believe it's because of the weight loss. You see, fat cells produce estrogen and estrogen can have a negative effect on our ovaries. It can also impact our endometrial lining. Even losing just 10 pounds can resume ovulation in some patients.

So, yes, Ozempic can make you more fertile, but it has nothing to do with some secret miracle ingredient found inside the medication. The secret miracle ingredient is simply losing weight. This means if you have ovarian failure or something similar, taking Ozempic will not "wake up" the reproductive system.

What's it all mean?
The lore surrounding Ozempic will continue to grow, but doctors are warning against abuse of the medication. Dr. Allison Rodgers told NewsNation that patients should NOT use Ozempic in an attempt to get pregnant because there could be dangerous consequences.

She's worried about the medication lingering in your system, which could increase the risk of miscarriage and birth defects.

If you're wanting to lose weight the old-fashioned way, here's a simple 30-day weight loss plan from a dietitian.

DID YOU HEAR

🥦 10 tips to shape healthy eating habits for toddlers
Kids are picky eaters. We all know this. We've all celebrated as if we won the lottery after watching our kid eat a single green bean. But maybe we're the problem when it comes to our kids' complicated relationship with food. Multiple studies have shown that adult behavior (how we handle our child's eating habits) has a lot to do with what they will eat. Thankfully, the experts were nice enough to give us 10 tips to follow. 

Included on the list? Avoid using food as a reward, don't give up on new foods too soon, keep serving sizes small, offer a limited amount of choices, and much more. Get all the tips and tricks here.

🤱 7 tough questions about breastfeeding
You got questions? Brit+Co has answers! For such a natural process, breastfeeding can be extremely challenging. Sadly, most moms aren't provided with enough information after birth, resulting in them giving up on breastfeeding entirely. But before you throw in the towel, maybe you should read the answers to 7 breastfeeding questions you were probably too afraid to ask. Questions like, "what the heck is colostrum?" and "how to soothe sore nipples?"

🚑 $97,000 for an air-ambulance ride
Sadly, in the U.S., when you have a sick child, you suffer through two nightmares: the first being your child's health emergency, and the second? The potentially life-altering medical bills. Sara England's 3-month-old son had a medical emergency last year, which resulted in him needing to be transported via air ambulance to a hospital better equipped to handle his condition. A few months later, the $97,000 bill came, all because the insurance company deemed the air ambulance ride to be unnecessary.

📚 8 super fun book subscriptions for kids
Want your kids to read more, but overwhelmed by the amount of options out there? We have you covered. Here's a list of 8 fun and creative book subscriptions for kids, starting as low as $24 a month!

🥚 11 Easter movies to watch with your kids
Did your favorite make the list?

A DOSE OF GOOD

@humankind

If you're not as excited as this toddler when his dad walks in the door, we don't want it. #humankind #toddlersoftiktok #familytime #home

BITES WITH KIYAH

Last week the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released its latest version of The Dirty Dozen. This report details 12 foods that the EWG claims should be consumed organic, given the high levels of pesticides and chemicals.

Our Bites contributing editor, Dr. Kiyah Duffey, weighed in with a few important reminders about this report on Instagram recently.

Key takeaways:

• The EWG’s report measured the presence of, not the levels of, these pesticides and chemicals in the fruits and vegetables evaluated.

• Pesticides and chemicals are regulated by the FDA.

• Even organic fruits and vegetables can have pesticides applied.

• There is a lack of scientific consensus, stemming from a lack of large-scale, long-term studies, that directly evaluate the causal relationship between intake of pesticides, chemicals, and our health. That doesn’t mean that it doesn’t exist, but most studies are correlational at best.

• And perhaps, most importantly… There is solid causal evidence from large-scale long-term studies linking higher levels of fruit and vegetable consumption with better (long-term) health. Reports like this put individuals and families with limited financial means at risk of under consuming fruits and vegetables, because they cannot afford the organic versions.

Watch Kiyah's full (short) video here!

You can read the full EWG report here.

For more advice on how to increase your fruit and vegetable intake, follow Kiyah on Instagram.

EASTER GOODIES FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Still doing some last-minute Easter shopping for your kids? Well, we did some searching and found some super cute gift ideas, and they're all $30 or less!

There's this $15 "VTech Gabber" that will sit on your kids' shoulder and sing songs, repeat words and much more. Honestly, if it was socially acceptable, we'd walk around with these things on our shoulders.

Prefer your kids' Easter gift not talk? These $22 Bunny Slippers are SO cute and super comfortable.

Love bubbles? Get your kid this $13 Easter Bunny bubble machine.

Swap those Easter eggs for a $20 Jumbo Dino Egg filled with tiny toys, digging tools and learning cards.

Want something sweet? Try these Lindt Chocolate Carrots.

Hop into the LEGO craze with a $16 Easter Bunny bundle set.

PARENTING WIN/FAIL

This week, loyal reader Rhonda T. regrets telling her kid he can be anything he wants to be...

Rhonda, it's a dangerous job, but someone's gotta do it!

If you have a parenting win/fail you'd like to share, email us at [email protected] and your story will be featured in a future edition!

HERE’S A QUESTION

Last week, we asked what your allowance per week was as a kid, and nearly 60% of you said, "Allowance? You all were getting paid?" while around 15% of you answered "$5".

RECALLS

MORE THAN 400,000 STARBUCKS MUGS

Apparently, Nestle teamed up with Starbucks last year to create a special holiday mug that was sold in a Starbucks-branded gift set. The gift set was sold online and inside Target and Walmart.

And now, Nestle is having to recall more than 440,000 of the mugs because they have injured at least a dozen people so far. The injuries have been classified as "severe" with burns and cuts on people's hands and fingers.

According to the report, the mugs can overheat and break if microwaved or filled with hot liquid, posing the risk of burns and lacerations.

You can visit Nestle's website for a full refund.