I have female pattern hair loss. It is an unfortunate situation in which my hair follicles are sensitive to the androgen hormones in my body, and therefore these silly follicles wither over time. In the process, they take my head of hair from full and healthy to thin and diffused. The good news is that this hair withering is not a health issue. I am still very healthy. My endocrine system seems fine. My ovaries are pumping out the correct hormones to keep my reproductive system in functional order. It’s just my hair follicles that seem to have a problem (like an oversensitive friend that cries at the drop of a hat, my hair follicles wither at the slightest showing of testosterone hormones. Geez!).

The only real solution to this female pattern hair loss is to use a topical form of Minoxidil, commonly known by the brand name Rogaine. And from what I have discovered through my research, using minoxidil has several pitfalls. First, I would need to use it twice a day, every day, for the rest of my life. If I live to be 90, that means 44,530 applications. And if I miss just a few of those thousands of applications, well, as soon as I stop using it, my hair will fall back out.

Second, it only works marginally well for about 30% of the population, so even if I religiously apply, I don’t even half a halfways decent chance of growing back my hair. That’s a lot of money and time and scalp applications to invest in a fairly low chance of marginal success. I hate to get up my hopes on those odds.

Third, and most importantly, it is unclear if it is safe to use the medication while pregnant or breastfeeding. And this, I think, is the best reason of all not to begin using the product now. That is because my husband and I are young. We want to start a family in a few years. And I just cannot see how I can let vanity over my hair stand in the way of a healthy, normal infant. During my hair loss diagnosis, I had two different doctors tell me I should consider minoxidil as a hair loss treatment. But the weird thing is, one doctor said it should not be used during pregnancy, no way, no how. The other doctor said it is fine to use during pregnancy. The internet tells me not to use the drug while conceiving or pregnant, and most importantly, my good sense tells me to stay away from it.

I plan to do everything in my power to make sure my babies have all of their fingers, all of their toes, all of their brain function, all of the head starts that a momma can give her babies as they grow into life. I am committed to taking folic acid, to eating well, to doing funny pregnancy yoga, to avoiding raw cheeses and ceviche (my favorite!), and to talking to my belly every night before bed. I will stay away from wine, which I love. I will go to bed early. I will even give up my adored caffeinated coffee in the morning if that is what I am supposed to do!

So, given all of these sacrifices, I am darn sure committed to avoiding any hair care regimes that could damage my baby. Plus, I cannot imagine the emotional stress of using minoxidil for a few years, beating the bad odds and regrowing hair, only to have it fall out again during conception and pregnancy. It is stressful enough to loose hair once, I don’t think I want to deal with it twice!

So that’s that. My future family is the reason I will not pursue minoxidil as an androgenic alopecia treatment. My husband is on board with the plan, I am comfortable with the decision, and now the only thing we need to figure out is how we will teach our babies to recognize men and women in the world. I laugh now when I think of having a baby someday, because my husband is quite hairy, with a full beard, and I am well on my way to bald. So our little babies are going to live the first parts of their lives confused about gender identity and hair. At least hopefully the breastfeeding will help with that. ;-)