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Home › Articles › Conditions Affecting Conception and Pregnancy › Public Problem, Private Suffering

Public Problem, Private Suffering

The Issue of DES Daughters

By Carma Haley Shoemaker

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The Victims
DES exposure can be difficult to talk about. Daughters of women who used DES do not want to hurt or blame their mothers, who took the drug at the advice of their doctors. In addition, the painful reproductive injuries caused by DES can be very difficult to share with others.

"The wounds of DES can be too private or sexual to talk about," Braun says. "Yet, beneath the surface, feelings about DES are huge. People feel like canaries in the coal mine. They want to bear witness and help others heal by speaking their truth."

"I was 10 years old when the doctors determined that I was a DES daughter," Kantor says. "My parents told me about it. Although, at the time, I didn't really understand what cancer was or the implications. My Mom was devastated. She felt – and still feels – guilty about taking DES."

Now What?
Knowing that the use of DES during pregnancy causes many medical problems is not the end of DES research. According to Braun, it is just the beginning. "2001 marks the 30-year anniversary since devastating vaginal cancers were discovered in the first wave of teenagers exposed to DES," he says. "Since then medical problems have disrupted the lives of DES daughters – and sons. A 2000 study found reproductive tumors in DES grandson mice, raising the question: Are adverse effects of DES multigenerational?


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