Expert: Norman Solberg - 12/23/2009

Question
Hi there,
I`m on Yasmin for birth control and was told that if you take Yamin in early pregnancy it can have an effect on the development of the unborn child (if the child is male), due to the anti-androgenic effect of the pill. My question then is: generally if an accidental pregancy were to occur on Yasmin, it would likely be four weeks before I would notice I had missed a period, therefor that would mean the unborn was exposed to the pill for the first four weeks of pregnancy. If so, what effect would that have, and are the sexual characteriscs developing at that early stage?
Many thanks,
November

Answer
Actually it would be 2 weeks before you missed a period, since a period will occur 2 weeks after ovulation.  The penis develops at 6 weeks of fetal age, which is actually 8 weeks from last period.  There is no evidence that birth control pills in early pregnancy cause any congenital defects, although I'm not sure how much drospirenone (the progestin in Yasmin) has been studied.  In any case, if you stop taking the Yasmin when you miss a period, I don't think there's any risk to your baby.  Best regards.