Weight loss wonder drug sparks 'Ozempic babies' phenomenon

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WPEC) — Roughly one in six women worldwide experiences infertility, according to the World Health Organization.

Many couples turn to solutions from acupuncture or herbal supplements to in vitro fertilization and even surrogacy. But as WPEC's Dani Travis reports, there's a new phenomenon of women having surprise pregnancies while taking weight loss medications like Ozempic and Wegovy.

What doctors are now seeing is women taking these weight loss medications and getting pregnant, even if they're on birth control or have a history of fertility issues.

We are now seeing a phenomenon that some people have coined the term 'Ozempic babies,'" said Dr. Melanie Altizer, the chief of obstetrics at St. Mary's Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

Dr. Leah Roberts, an attending physician of reproductive endocrinology and fertility at Boca Fertility IVF Center, specializes in treating infertility.

"Anything that can help my patients who I formerly did not have an answer for, is always a wonderful thing to me," said Roberts.

She said about 90% of her patients with polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, are obese. This syndrome makes it nearly impossible for those patients to lose weight.

"With polycystic ovarian syndrome, you either will not ovulate at all, or your ovulation can be suboptimal in one way or another," said Roberts. "Ozempic has really been a miracle because we're seeing even within the PCOS population, great weight loss stories. So, if these patients are able to lose 10% of their body weight, they're returning to normal ovulation."

That can be a gift for patients who have been struggling to get pregnant.

"If you are obese and you're having trouble with fertility, you go on one of these medications, and then lose a lot of weight, and then return to normal fertility and then all of a sudden end up with a surprise pregnancy," said Altizer.

But, as Altizer says, for women on birth control, an unexpected pregnancy is not always good news.

"My own practice was seeing patients come in and obtaining a history, 'Yes I was taking Ozempic when I found out I was suddenly pregnant,'" said Altizer. "I thought that i had reliable birthday control.'"

Altizer said it's because semaglutide hyper-metabolizes birth control medication, meaning it doesn't stay in your system as long as it normally would.

"Anytime anything decreases the efficacy of the oral contraceptives, whether it's delayed gastric emptying or a medication that interferes chemically with how the drug works, then you run the risk of an unintended pregnancy," said Altizer.

Like everything else with these drugs, there's a lot of research still to be done. That's why neither of these physicians recommend Ozempic or anything similar for people trying to get pregnant.

"Just as a method to help achieve pregnancy, I definitely would not recommend it for that," said Altizer.

"We do not recommend actively trying to conceive while on these medications," said Roberts.

Both doctors agree that losing weight makes the pregnancy safer because obesity increases the risk of complications. They caution that there's no research about how these drugs might affect a baby's development, so they strongly recommend losing the weight, then getting off the medication for a while before trying to get pregnant.

Another thing Roberts points out is that a lot of times infertility is also an issue for the potential dad in this equation. Obese men can also be less fertile, so losing weight can improve a couple's chances from both sides.

But, again, Roberts said more research and clinical trials need to be done to really understand how these drugs interact with the reproductive system in both men and women.