Hi Dani,

From what I was led to believe, from the endos and geneticists, it is supposed to work every time, but from talking with others that have gone through it, it seems to work to different degrees. For example, one lady I talked to while we still lived near Children’s in Winnipeg (Manitoba, Canada), went through the same thing but her daughter did have slight enlargement of the clitoris; I found out later that she’d stopped taking it at 6 & 1/2 months because of trouble with her blood pressure, so perhaps that was the reason it didn’t work as completely as they’d like - who knows. Come to think of it, every other person (and there have only been a few, mind you) that I talked to that said it DIDN’T work as they’d expected, stopped taking it early for one reason or another. Anyone else out there have a different experience??

When my daughter was born over 9 years ago, the dex treatment was still relatively new in our area; not that the treatment hadn’t been developed several years earlier, but with the number of CAH patients that were in that area (not more than a couple dozen) , the number of families that were trying to have more children, and the odds of having an AFFECTED GIRL .... chances of anyone having to take dex all the way through, were pretty slim. I believe that our daughter was the first child, for our endo, born after having been treated with dex in utero. While our endo assured us that it would work, I find it hard to believe she was certain of anything. Nevertheless, after trying to get pregnant for almost 8 yrs - and after much prayer - I FELT certain it would work ... and thankfully it did.

It really can be a very tough decision because it can have some nasty side effects for some people. I did talk with one lady who declined the dex because it made her gain "too much weight" , and "the baby won’t remember the surgery anyway" - can’t say as I have too much respect for that kind of thinking. But there are some definite health concerns that you need to be aware of such as high blood pressure, etc. I would advocate trying it out if you’re uncertain, and seeing how it goes for you; as already said here, you can always wean off early. And odds are in your favor that you won’t need it for your whole pregnancy anyway!

Most of all I’d like to say not to let it "scare" you away from having more children! Each child is a blessing in their own way, and are definitely "worth it"!

Blessings,

Wendy-Lee