DES Exposure: how many People are affected?

It is still not known how many people are DES exposed worldwide. Many people remain unaware of their exposure and the potential adverse health effects of diethylstilbestrol. Many don’t make the link between DES exposure and the health problems they are facing and sometimes even doctors don’t make that link either.

Anyone born or pregnant in the US between 1938 and 1971, and until the mid-’80s in some European countries (until 1977 in France), may have been exposed. In the United States alone an estimated 5 -10 million people were exposed to Diethylstilbestrol, including women who were prescribed DES while pregnant, and the children born of those pregnancies.