Public Problem; Private Suffering

The Issue of DES Daughters

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

Used primarily to prevent miscarriage, DES – diethylstilbestrol (Di-Ethyl-Stillbestrol) – was a common medication administered by doctors in North America, Europe and Australia for more than 40 years. Aggressive marketing pushed DES to be used for more than 100 additional medical conditions, exposing approximately 10 million Americans. Instead of saving babies, DES put both the mothers prescribed the drug and their unborn babies at risk for serious health problems.

DES was the first synthetic estrogen prescribed for public use. Given to millions of women around the world, it was believed DES could prevent miscarriage and thus save the lives of thousands of unborn children. According to some, DES did nothing to save.

"There are 10 million DES-exposed Americans and hundreds of thousands in Europe, Canada and Australia," says Margaret Lee Braun, author of DES Stories: Faces and Voices of People Exposed To Diethylstilbestrol (Visual Studies Workshop, 2001). "Anyone born or pregnant in the United States between 1938 and 1971, and until the mid-80s in some European countries, may have been exposed. Injuries surface years after exposure, so life long health consequences are in question, including whether DES may affect a third generation of grandchildren."

Braun explains that the full effects of DES may not be seen until an exposed child reaches the age of reproduction – when it may be too late to take action against the exposure.

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