COVID-19: Vaccine, Fertility, and Pregnancy
Experts in fertility, maternal care, and public health strongly urge all individuals who are pregnant now or are wanting to have children in the future to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
COVID-19 vaccines are safe, effective, free, and widely available. Everyone ages 6 months and older is recommended to get a COVID-19 vaccine.
What you need to know
- Millions of people have safely gotten the COVID-19 vaccine, thousands of whom have given birth or become pregnant after getting the vaccine.
- Several studies looking into the safety and effect of vaccines on fertility and pregnancy have all shown that the COVID-19 vaccines are safe for people who are pregnant, or who want to have a child in the future. There is currently no evidence that COVID-19 vaccines cause fertility problems in women or men.
- People who are pregnant are at an increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19. Getting sick from COVID-19 infection when pregnant can cause preterm birth, stillbirth, and other pregnancy complications. Vaccination either before conception or early during pregnancy is the best way to reduce maternal and fetal complications.
- Vaccinated people are far less likely than unvaccinated people to get COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccination will help keep you from getting severely sick, being hospitalized, or dying from COVID-19.
What the research says about getting a COVID-19 vaccine
Developing new vaccines is a thorough and careful process. Safety is the top priority during all phases of vaccine development, approval, and use.
Before pregnancy and for fertility
Research studies have found that COVID-19 vaccines:
- Do not cause any fertility problems in men or women.
- Do not cause any problems with becoming pregnant.
Data from v-safe and data directly from eight U.S. health care systems show that COVID-19 vaccines do not prevent people from becoming pregnant. This was also confirmed by an in vitro fertilization (a type of fertility treatment) study, which showed people who had been vaccinated against COVID-19 were just as likely to get pregnant as people who had not been vaccinated or recently had COVID-19.
A study comparing sperm before and after vaccination with an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine (Pfizer or Moderna) found that vaccination did not affect how much sperm men had or how it moved. Currently, evidence shows that vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, do not cause male fertility problems.
Reports claiming that COVID-19 vaccines cause infertility are unfounded. Learn a little more about the science below.
During and after pregnancy
In the largest study of its kind, researchers found mRNA COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective at protecting pregnant and breastfeeding people against COVID-19. Two other studies (published in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report and American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology) also showed that babies got protection through the vaccinated parent’s placenta and milk. Pregnant people who were vaccinated had more protective antibodies from vaccination than pregnant people who had a COVID-19 infection.
Protecting people who are pregnant from COVID-19 is especially important because pregnant people with COVID-19 are at higher risk for pregnancy complications than pregnant people without COVID-19. People who are pregnant are also more likely to get severely sick from COVID-19 compared to people who are not pregnant. If you are fully vaccinated, your chance of getting severely sick or hospitalized is much, much lower than if you are not fully vaccinated.
Several studies showed no safety concerns for thousands of pregnant people who were vaccinated or for their babies. These studies include an analysis of current data from the v-safe pregnancy registry, previous findings from three safety monitoring systems, and other studies that add to growing evidence that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is safe.
Additional COVID-19 vaccine resources
Access resources and webpages about the COVID-19 vaccines for people who are currently pregnant or want to have children in the future.
- COVID-19 Vaccine: Fertility and Pregnancy, P-03133
- How Our Bodies Respond to the COVID-19 Vaccine, P-02941
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) webpage for people who are trying to get pregnant now or might become pregnant in the future
- CDC webpage for people who are pregnant or breastfeeding
- Greater Than COVID: 5 things to know about the COVID-19 vaccine and pregnancy
- Frequently asked questions about COVID-19, pregnancy and breastfeeding
- American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), American Society of Reproductive Medicine, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine joint statement: Medical Experts Continue to Assert that COVID Vaccines Do Not Impact Fertility
- Statement from ACOG and 21 other maternal care and public health organizations recommending all pregnant and breastfeeding people to get the vaccine
Get your COVID-19 vaccine
One of the most effective ways to stop the spread of COVID-19 is to get vaccinated.
