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Is selegiline safe during pregnancy?

Answered by MotherToBaby’s teratology specialists, quoted in full — including the questions most pages skip, like whether a father’s exposure matters.

By the pharmaranks editorial teamReviewed against the MotherToBaby fact sheet for selegiline (OTIS, published via the NIH) sourcesUpdated Jul 21, 2026How we research

The questions people actually ask about selegiline in pregnancy

Answered by MotherToBaby, the fact sheets written by the Organization of Teratology Information Specialists and published through the NIH. Quoted in full — we do not condense them.

I take selegiline. Can it make it harder for me to get pregnant?

It is not known if selegiline can make it harder to get pregnant.

Does taking selegiline increase the chance of miscarriage?

Miscarriage is common and can occur in any pregnancy for many different reasons. Studies have not been done to see if selegiline could increase the chance for miscarriage.

Does taking selegiline increase the chance of birth defects?

Birth defects can happen in any pregnancy for different reasons. Out of all babies born each year, about 3 out of 100 (3%) will have a birth defect. We look at research studies to try to understand if an exposure, like selegiline, might increase the chance of birth defects in a pregnancy.

It is not known if taking selegiline could increase the chance of birth defects. Experimental animal studies did not find a higher chance of birth defects. Studies have not been done in humans. There are 3 case reports on women who became pregnant while being treated with selegiline and other medications. Two women stopped taking selegiline and 1 continued to use selegiline through the pregnancy; all 3 had healthy infants.

Does taking selegiline in pregnancy increase the chance of other pregnancy-related problems?

Studies have not been done to see if selegiline increases the chance for pregnancy-related problems such as preterm delivery (birth before week 37) or low birth weight (weighing less than 5 pounds, 8 ounces [2500 grams] at birth).

Does taking selegiline in pregnancy affect future behavior or learning for the child?

Studies have not been done to see if selegiline can increase the chance of behavior or learning issues for the child.

If a man takes selegiline, could it affect fertility (ability to get a woman pregnant) or increase the chance of birth defects?

Studies have not been done to see if selegiline could affect a man’s fertility or increase the chance of birth defects. In general, exposures that men have are unlikely to increase the risks to a pregnancy. For more information, please see the MotherToBaby fact sheet Paternal Exposures at https://mothertobaby.org/fact-sheets/paternal-exposures-pregnancy/ .

Quoted from MotherToBaby Fact Sheets — Selegiline, published November 2024. MotherToBaby states its fact sheets should not take the place of medical care and advice from your healthcare providers.

Breastfeeding is a separate question — what LactMed says about selegiline

This is general reference information, not medical advice. Whether to take any medication in pregnancy is a decision for you and your prescriber; do not start or stop a drug on your own, because an untreated condition can also carry risk.