Maintaining a healthy weight is important when you’re trying to conceive, but is Ozempic really making women more fertile? Unii looks at the evidence.

Struggling to conceive makes you more receptive to all sorts of ideas, from acupuncture to zinc supplements. Lately, you might have heard about women on Ozempic getting pregnant unexpectedly. What is the link between the drug and these babies? Could Oprah Winfrey’s preferred weight loss help you on your preconception journey?

What is Ozempic?

Ozempic is the brand name of an injectable anti-diabetic drug called semaglutide. Semaglutide is also sold under the brand names Rybelsus and Wygovy. It’s used to treat Type 2 diabetic or obese patients and works by increasing insulin level in your blood while lowering your blood sugar and slowing your digestion. It does this by mimicking a gut hormone released after eating called GLP-1. Ozempic is self-administered by injections once a week, and patients are advised to use it to manage weight only in combination with exercise and a balanced diet. Potential side effects of semaglutide include gallstones, an inflamed pancreas, thyroid tumours, nausea, vomiting, and constipation. In September 2023, the US Food and Drug Administration added a warning to Ozempic’s packaging about a particularly worrying side effect—bowel obstruction—after a rise in cases among Ozempic users that included at least one fatality.