DES revisited...

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) announced today that it was making an effort to educate Americans about potential harmful side effects from DES ( diethylstilbestrol), a drug given to women during pregnancy from the 1930s to the 70s in an effort to preven miscarriage. DES is a synthetic estrogen. Between 5 and 10 million people were exposed to this drug during its period of use. I was one of them. My mother began bleeding five months into her pregnancy and may have miscarried my twin. In an era before sonograms, we only know that there were two distinct fetal heartbeats before her illness and only one after. She continued to go into contractions throughout the last months of her pregnancy and could not do anything that would put strain on her. They were so worried she would lose me that she was not allowed to return to her own family (she was with my father's while he was away at Air Force training) because they did not think she could make the trip through the winding backroads.

DES, unlike the more famous tetrogen, thalidomide, causes more subtle problems. Women who were exposed to it may have a higher risk for breast cancer. Daughters may have a higher risk for a form of vaginal cancer and reproductive malformations or infertility issures. Boys may genital malformations. No one really knows just how widespread the effects may be--how it will affect the third generation or how it will affect menopause for women and daughters. You can find more information at DES Action, an excellent organisation which has been advocating research and education for many years.

Because the drug was prescribed so long ago, many people have no idea of their exposure status and even many health providers don't know about the special measures needed for those exposed. I was in my 30s before I had a special type of Pap smear that was supposed to screen for that rare vaginal cancer. There's a lot of misinformation out there, like that the vaginal cancer will only strike you in your teens and afterwards you're safe (there are some who have gotten it when older). Exposure to DES is very difficult to verify--many records have either been destroyed or providers fearing a suit may be reluctant to admit it. But even if you can't be sure--if you had a child or were born during that period and there is reason to believe you may have been exposed, please educate yourself and take the steps necessary to check your health.