How Do You Get Pregnant With No Vagina?

UPDATE [June 30, 2026]: If we had our time again we would have produced this episode differently. We got carried away with the wildness of the story, from a scientific perspective, and didn't take time to really think about the fact that this is the story of a 15-year-old, who would have been going through a really difficult time. Many of our listeners rightly pointed this out, and we appreciate it." We have changed some of our language in this episode based on the feedback – we replaced all references to woman to teenager or girl, we cut some moments that we viewed as insensitive, and we removed the reference to the girl not being intersex, as some folks with the condition Mayer-Rokitansky-Küster-Hauser syndrome do identify as intersex. Here’s the story: It's 1988 in Lesotho, and doctors at a hospital see something they thought was impossible. A 15-year-old girl shows up pregnant and in labor, but she's missing something pretty crucial to her delivery: a vagina. So — how did this happen? We speak with Dr. Neel Shah to find out. Find our transcript here: https://tinyurl.com/sciencevsnovagina In this episode, we cover: (00:00) A small war (04:42) How do you get pregnant without a vagina? (14:08) The final unbelievable chapter This episode was produced by Ekedi Fausther-Keeys with help from Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, and Meryl Horn. We’re edited by Blythe Terrell. Fact checking by Diane Kelly. Mix and sound design by Bobby Lord. Music written by Emma Munger, So Wiley, Peter Leonard, Bumi Hidaka and Bobby Lord. Thank you to all the scientists we spoke to for this episode including, Dr. Sarah Ackroyd, Dr. Sarah Collins, Professor Adam Taylor, and Dr. Cathy Flood. Special thanks to Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman family. Science Vs is a Spotify Studios Original. Listen for free on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow us and tap the bell for episode notifications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound Terzepatide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems, to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15-milligram injection. Zepbound contains Terzepatide, and should not be used with other Terzepatide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles. Don't take if allergic to it,

• 0:43Speaker 00

  or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979,

• 1:26Speaker 00

  or visit zepbound.lily.com.

• 1:31Speaker 01

  Did you know that psoriatic arthritis may progress over time and could cause permanent joint damage if left untreated?

• 1:41Speaker 01

  Listen to what it sounds like to be a million miles away.

• 1:50Speaker 01

  Trifluoride guselkumab, taken by injection, is a prescription medicine for adults with active psoriatic arthritis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections or lower ability to fight them, and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Imagine being a million miles away. Explore the possibilities. Ask your doctor about Trimfyia. Tap this ad to see new joint data and learn more about Trimfyia, including important safety information.

• 2:30Wendy Zukerman?

  This episode is brought to you by Chase Sapphire Reserve. On this podcast, we sort fact from fiction. So here's a quick truth for you. With Sapphire Reserve, you can spend all around the world. Not only that, but you can earn four times the points on flights and hotels, book direct, and three times the points on dining. Plus, enjoy access to award-winning airport lounges and exclusive restaurant tables. Learn more at chase.com/sapphirereserve. Cards issued by J.P. Morgan Chase Bank and a member FDIC. Subject to credit approval; terms apply.

• 3:08Speaker 03

  Gray roots entering the chat, uninvited? Garnier's got you. Garnier Color Sensation Root Retouch covers up to 100% of grays in just 10 minutes. No ammonia, no mess, and the color lasts up to four weeks. It's as easy to apply as shampoo. Plus, it's vegan and cruelty-free. 10 minutes, sensational color, sensational price. With those savings, your next girls' night is basically free. Find your perfect match at walmart.com or at a store near you.

• 3:38Speaker 04

  Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease symptoms don't pause for the moments that matter. That's why understanding your treatment options matters. Discover what's possible with Trimfyia. Guselkamap. Trimfyia is a prescription medicine used to treat adults with moderately to severely active Crohn's disease and adults with moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis. Serious allergic reactions, increased risk of infections, or lower ability to fight them and liver problems may occur. Before treatment, get checked for infections and tuberculosis. Tell your doctor if you have an infection, flu-like symptoms, or need a vaccine. Talk to your doctor and explore what's possible, or call 1-800-526-7736 to learn more about Trimfyia, and visit trimfyiarradio.com.

• 4:23Speaker 05

  This episode is brought to you by Petivity. Cat parents are basically mealtime detectives. Who actually ate? Did they finish? Was that less than yesterday? The new Petivity Smart Feeder for cats turns everyday meals into meaningful health insights, helping you identify changes in your cat's habits and be more proactive about their health. Plus, you can feed them from anywhere. Take the mystery out of mealtime. Visit petivity.com, P E T I V I T Y dot com slash cat feeder to learn more.

• 4:53Wendy Zukerman?

  Hi, Wendy from the future here. If we had our time again, we would have produced this episode differently. We got carried away with the wildness of this story from a scientific perspective and didn't take time to think about the fact that this is the story of a 15-year-old who would have been going through an extremely difficult time. As one of our listeners commented, quote, "Despite the science itself being fascinating, these are very young human beings involved in this case." Another person called us cavalier.

• 5:36Wendy Zukerman?

  And both of these people, you are absolutely right. So I just want to say sorry and thank you for picking us up on this. We have changed some of our language in this episode based on the feedback. There's more details in the show notes. But like I said, we, we really should have done things differently. Okay, on with the show. Hi, I'm Wendy Zukerman and you're listening to Science Versus.

• 6:07Wendy Zukerman?

  Today on the show, a new segment that we're calling Case Files. And this is where we take case reports, which are basically stories from academic literature where really weird things have happened to patients that are often so out of the norm that doctors have to write them down for posterity. So think about the kid who went to the hospital with a case of blue balls. Classic case report. But today, we have a case report for you that could perhaps top all case reports.

• 6:41Wendy Zukerman?

  And to process it all, we've got friend of the show and science journalist Joel Werner. Hello, Joel.

• 6:48Speaker 06

  Hey Wendy.

• 6:49Wendy Zukerman?

  Okay, this story was published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1988. It begins with a lover's quarrel and ends with what might be one of the unlikeliest events in scientific history. But it's so unlikely that we're wondering if perhaps it is indeed a fairy tale with some nightmarish elements.

• 7:13Speaker 06

  Wow, that is some hype.

• 7:15Wendy Zukerman?

  All right, we're in Lesotho, which is a very small country within the borders of South Africa. And the case report starts off like this, quote, "The patient was a 15-year-old girl employed in a local bar. She was admitted to hospital after a knife fight involving her, a former lover and a new boyfriend. Who exactly stabbed whom was not quite clear, but all three participants in the small war were admitted with knife injuries."

• 7:46Speaker 06

  Wow.

• 7:48Wendy Zukerman?

  So this young woman comes into the hospital with a stab wound to the upper part of her stomach. They have a look and it's actually sort of punctured two holes into her stomach. The doctors operate on her, close up the wounds, keep her for observation, but ultimately she gets to go home after about a week and a half and she's fully recovered. But of course, our story can't end there. Months later, she returns to the hospital with a very different issue. It's about nine months later, actually, and she's complaining of serious stomach pain. It's coming in these very intense waves where the pain gets really bad and then it goes away and then it comes back again.

• 8:31Wendy Zukerman?

  Doctors examine her. What do you think's going on, Joel?

• 8:34Speaker 06

  Like, I've got two kids and that sounds like contractions.

• 8:38Wendy Zukerman?

  Yes.

• 8:39Speaker 06

  Yes, okay.

• 8:40Wendy Zukerman?

  Yes, she is pregnant.

• 8:41Speaker 06

  Wow.

• 8:42Wendy Zukerman?

  Fully in labor. She didn't know she was pregnant. She did suspect something was off because her belly was getting bigger.

• 8:52Wendy Zukerman?

  Now, again, you might be thinking, okay, this happens, 15-year-olds, they get pregnant sometimes. But here's where things get strange. So as the doctors start getting her ready to have this baby, they realized something is a little bit different about this 15-year-old. She has no vagina. What? So, yeah, so she is pregnant, she's not trans, but she has no vagina.

• 9:23Wendy Zukerman?

  And more on her story is coming up just after the break.

• 9:38Wendy Zukerman?

  Welcome back. Before the break, we told you about a 15-year-old who was pregnant and in labor, but has no vagina. Okay. And so let's just talk about this no vagina for a moment. So basically, when this girl was in the womb, the lower part of her vagina didn't develop properly. And that can sometimes be caused by a condition called vaginal agenesis. Right, okay. It happens to about 1 in 5,000 people. And this case report said that where her vagina was supposed to be, only a shallow skin dimple was present. We think she had a urethra, the inner and outer lips of the vulva.

• 10:22Wendy Zukerman?

  But then instead of an opening where the vagina was supposed to be, there was skin with a little dent in it. So think about it like kind of pressing your cheek a little, like a little dimple. And this condition is usually brought on by a syndrome with a very long name.

• 10:40Speaker 07

  Uh, Mayer-Rochekansky-Cuister-Hauser syndrome. It's a mouthful.

• 10:44Speaker 06

  Sounds like a law firm, to be honest.

• 10:46Wendy Zukerman?

  Right. Well, this mouthful uh was said by Dr. Neil Shah. He's at OBGYN and the chief medical officer at Maven Clinic, he's based in Massachusetts. And he's treated people who have this condition before.

• 11:00Speaker 07

  Uh, when I was in residency, I took care of people at Boston Children's Hospital that would fly in from all over the world who had this syndrome.

• 11:07Wendy Zukerman?

  Now Neil told us that on top of the vagina that hadn't properly formed, people with this condition can also have a uterus that is not fully developed. But in this case, with the pregnant hero of our story, her uterus was fully formed, working perfectly and could support a fetus, soon to be a baby. It just seems there was no vagina. So the big question is, of course.

• 11:32Speaker 06

  How did the sperm get in? And I guess part two, how does the baby get out?

• 11:37Wendy Zukerman?

  Okay, so the baby got out by a C-section. That's the quick one.

• 11:40Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 11:42Wendy Zukerman?

  But now back at the hospital, the doctors and nurses, they were curious themselves about how the sperm got in there. And so they start asking questions and here is what they found out. So this teenager had apparently tried multiple times to have garden variety penis and vagina sex, but that didn't work, so turned to oral sex, which ends up being key here. So Joel, do you remember the fight that broke out at the start of the story?

• 12:16Speaker 06

  Oh yeah, I can't stop thinking about it. The knife has to be, it's Chekhov's knife, right?

• 12:20Wendy Zukerman?

  It's Chekhov's knife. Okay, so it seems that that fight all started because her ex-lover caught her going down on her new partner.

• 12:30Speaker 06

  Ah.

• 12:31Wendy Zukerman?

  And doctors think that this wild combination of giving fellatio, swallowing the sperm and the fight might have led to this pregnancy.

• 12:45Speaker 07

  What?

• 12:46Wendy Zukerman?

  All right, so the first thing we need is some way for the sperm to get to the egg. And normally the sperm has a pretty direct route through the vagina, sneak your way up the cervix, yada, yada, yada, basically home freight.

• 13:02Wendy Zukerman?

  But in this case, when she swallowed the sperm, it would have been stuck in her stomach. And our producer, Keddie Foster Keys, asked Neil, are the stomach and the uterus connected in any sort of way?

• 13:19Speaker 06

  Uh, not without a knife.

• 13:24Wendy Zukerman?

  But we had a knife, right? But maybe let's just start this journey with the sperm inside the stomach, because she just swallowed it.

• 13:36Speaker 06

  Right.

• 13:37Wendy Zukerman?

  But Neil actually told us that at that point, it should have been game over.

• 13:42Speaker 06

  Wow, okay.

• 13:43Speaker 07

  The most extraordinary thing is that sperm does not survive acid. Gastric acid in the stomach is basically as acidic as it gets.

• 13:51Wendy Zukerman?

  Yeah, so he's just shocked, and other doctors we reached out to as well, shocked that it would have survived the stomach at all.

• 13:58Speaker 06

  Other science journalists as well. Like, I'm, I'm just perpetually shocked at the moment.

• 14:03Wendy Zukerman?

  So those stomach acids are so toxic to sperm.

• 14:06Speaker 06

  Uh huh.

• 14:07Wendy Zukerman?

  In one study, researchers actually looked into how different acids would affect sperm, whether it would immobilize or kill human sperm. And so they mixed semen with stuff that is generally less acidic than the contents of our stomach. And what they found was that within a minute, the sperm could no longer move. And within 10 minutes, all the sperm were dead.

• 14:32Wendy Zukerman?

  So based on that study, the odds of the sperm surviving the stomach were perhaps even less than the odds of this woman not having a vagina.

• 14:43Wendy Zukerman?

  Here's Neil.

• 14:44Speaker 07

  I've never seen sperm survive in the stomach in my whole career.

• 14:48Speaker 06

  So do they know what length of time there was between her going down on her new lover and her getting stabbed in, which she caught in the act? And so the sperm could like, maybe have just been freshly in the stomach.

• 15:02Wendy Zukerman?

  Yeah, it appears she was caught in the act. All of this must have happened quickly. It couldn't have just been sitting in the stomach, because then sperm would have been dead.

• 15:12Speaker 06

  Absolutely.

• 15:13Wendy Zukerman?

  It has to have happened very fast. The swallow?

• 15:17Wendy Zukerman?

  And then, so we know saliva is a nicer pH for sperm. We also know that seminal fluid is not acidic.

• 15:28Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 15:29Wendy Zukerman?

  It's actually a little bit basic. So maybe the two of them acted like a coating to protect the sperm. On top of that, eating food can lower the acidity in your stomach.

• 15:41Speaker 06

  Okay.

• 15:41Wendy Zukerman?

  So maybe if she'd had a big meal before all this happened. And one thing that Neil read in the case report made him think that maybe this did all happen quickly.

• 15:53Speaker 07

  What they say in the case report is that she vomits.

• 15:57Wendy Zukerman?

  So what the case report actually says is that her stomach was empty when she had surgery. But Neil, knowing what he knows about medicine, reckons that that could be from vomiting. So maybe what happens is she swallows the sperm and it's somehow protected in the saliva and the seminal fluid. And then maybe she vomits and that act of vomiting propels a tiny bit of sperm out into the little hole in the stomach that the stab wound created. So here's Neil.

• 16:34Speaker 07

  So it basically has to be like perfectly positioned anatomically to be near the place where it would exit based on where the stab was.

• 16:43Speaker 06

  Which, you know, explains our exit from the stomach. But there's still, this is just the first step of a, of a long journey, I'm imagining.

• 16:52Wendy Zukerman?

  Right.

• 16:53Speaker 06

  And then it gets even wilder.

• 16:55Wendy Zukerman?

  Right, because when it exits the stomach, like you say, it's not as if the egg is just hanging around saying, hello, I'm right here. The egg, it should be in the pelvis and the hole was in the stomach.

• 17:09Speaker 06

  Absolutely, yeah.

• 17:10Wendy Zukerman?

  Now, once the sperm gets out of the stomach, it moves into this liquidy space that's between the organs in the abdomen. It's called the peritoneal cavity. And this peritoneal cavity is actually a nicer place, we think, for the little fragile spermies to survive and thrive because the pH in the peritoneal cavity is about the same as vaginal fluid.

• 17:36Speaker 06

  Ah, okay.

• 17:37Wendy Zukerman?

  Which is the stuff that protects the sperm as it travels through the vagina, right? For those who have a vagina. Now, there have been two other case reports that we found where sperm was found in the peritoneal fluid of men, suggesting that maybe it can survive there. And so from this peritoneal cavity, the sperm then would have had to have swum past the intestine into the pelvis and ultimately to reach the egg.

• 18:10Speaker 06

  Look, this is, do you know those guys who like overanalyze the Zapruder film of JFK's assassination? And they're like rewinding and going, oh, the bullet had to have come in through the, like Neil reminds me of one of those guys. He's just gone, no, look, it sounds far fetched, but maybe there's this like magic sperm that can like roller coaster its way through the abdomen and then magically fertilize.

• 18:34Wendy Zukerman?

  Was there a second shooter? Exactly. So that is one way, maybe. So after the break, the final unbelievable chapter.

• 19:02Wendy Zukerman?

  Welcome back. Today on the show, how the teenager with no vagina got pregnant. Here's where we're at, based on the facts on the ground. It looks like the only way this could have happened was that the sperm that she swallowed after giving oral to her boyfriend somehow survived the acids in her stomach, escaped the stomach through a stab wound, and then swam down the obstacle course that is her body and merged with the egg.

• 19:35Speaker 06

  Unbelievable.

• 19:36Wendy Zukerman?

  Unbelievable.

• 19:38Wendy Zukerman?

  And by the way, we looked into this. There are a bunch of ways that the sperm is guided towards the egg because of things that the egg is doing. Like it releases certain chemicals that sort of say, come hither to the sperm. And there's changes to temperature and the flow of fluid in the body that can help guide sperm to the egg. But all of that stuff tends to happen when you're already pretty close to the target. It's not kicking in up in the stomach.

• 20:06Speaker 06

  And I imagine that we haven't evolved to help sperm from, was it the peritoneal?

• 20:14Wendy Zukerman?

  Yes.

• 20:14Speaker 06

  The cavity to then find its way. It's not like we usually get sperm in this part of the body.

• 20:21Wendy Zukerman?

  No, no, no, no, no. And this takes us to the final, rather unbelievable part of this story, which is the egg. So what's very curious about what happened here is that we don't think this teenager had ever had a menstrual period before. Because without a vagina, there'd be no hole for the blood to escape into. And so if she had released an egg and this blood was coming down, the body really doesn't like blood in places it shouldn't be. If it was pulling there, it probably would have caused her a lot of pain and she probably would have had to go to the hospital to deal with it.

• 21:05Wendy Zukerman?

  And plus, when they opened her up to deliver the baby, they would have seen blood from past periods and they didn't. Here's Neil.

• 21:16Speaker 07

  Now, when they deliver her, her cervix is completely dilated. It empties into nowhere and there's no blood anywhere. And apparently she's never menstruated before. So the other extraordinary timing is this is the first time she's ever ovulated in her entire life. She's 15 and she ovulates at the exact perfect time for fertilization to happen.

• 21:39Speaker 06

  What? What? The series of coincidences are stacking up.

• 21:47Wendy Zukerman?

  Yes.

• 21:48Speaker 06

  So the first time she's ever, her body has ever released an egg, there just happens to be sperm that's made its way from oral sex, out a wound in her stomach from a stab fight, on a magical journey through her abdominal cavity. And then it fertilizes the only egg that's ever been there to be fertilized.

• 22:10Wendy Zukerman?

  Yeah. And by the way, the baby was born healthy.

• 22:15Speaker 06

  Amazing.

• 22:16Wendy Zukerman?

  Here's Neil.

• 22:18Speaker 07

  This is, this baby is born at the expected weight and nothing apparently wrong with it because there's a lot of other things that can happen. She doesn't miscarry. So then you're like, in all of human existence, what are the odds that this happened once?

• 22:31Speaker 09

  So this is like the unicorn of all unicorns of all of medical cases.

• 22:35Speaker 07

  Yeah, yeah, I would say so. You know, the, the odds are lower than the odds of one person being struck by lightning a hundred times.

• 22:44Speaker 06

  Wow. It's, it's sort of, I mean, often when we're talking about these unbelievable stories in science, I think about that amazing documentary Jurassic Park and its famous line, "Life finds a way." But this is like the perfect example of life finding a way. The odds have been completely stacked against this fertilization event ever occurring. And somehow there's a healthy child at the end of it.

• 23:10Wendy Zukerman?

  It's, yeah. And we, look, we reached out to the doctor who wrote the case report several times, but we didn't hear back. He's now retired. We also asked a bunch of other doctors what they made of this report because it is so wild. Um, and a couple of doctors said they just didn't believe it. Too unlikely. Others were like, maybe. One told us, quote, "Sperm are persistent little guys." And that doctor actually described a patient that they had had, who had no obvious vaginal opening.

• 23:46Wendy Zukerman?

  Who had apparently never had penetrative sex and also got pregnant and given birth to a kid with C-section as well.

• 23:53Speaker 06

  Wow.

• 23:54Wendy Zukerman?

  So, yeah, she was, she was like, you know, it's unlikely, but stuff happens. Some of the doctors that we heard from also said that there might be another explanation for what's going on here and that maybe that dimple where her vagina sort of should have been wasn't totally closed off. Maybe there was a tiny hole in there that was missed and sperm somehow got in that way, just sort of the more regular way. And the fact that all of this happened, you know, some 40 years ago, one doctor told us that they didn't have the technology on hand that we use today to diagnose someone with vaginal agenesis.

• 24:36Speaker 06

  Well, this is the thing, you know, from, from the very first time you start studying science, you're told the simplest solution is often the accurate solution. And if this story we're being told is the simplest solution, like it makes you think, like, are there other mechanisms by which this could have occurred?

• 24:56Wendy Zukerman?

  Yeah, and, you know, but on the other hand, doctors pointed out, you know, this was a case report written in a legit, peer-reviewed medical journal. As for Neil, he said, you know, it was extremely unlikely to have happened, but who knows?

• 25:16Speaker 07

  Nothing is impossible. Like, as a physician also, you have to, you know, you see all kinds of extraordinary things.

• 25:24Speaker 06

  Wow. Now, do we know what happened? Is there any resolution to the love story?

• 25:28Wendy Zukerman?

  The case report says that about two and a half years later, baby is still perfectly healthy. It says, quote, "The young mother, her family and the likely father adapted themselves rapidly to the new situation and some cattle changed hands to prove that there were no hard feelings."

• 25:45Speaker 06

  I love these stories where they're just completely almost impossible coincidences that lead to an event. And it sort of challenges our notion of kind of like, what is likely? You know, like if this can be true, if this somehow is the way that that sperm and that egg found each other, then, you know, it gives you a sort of sense of like, I kind of like want to believe, like I want to lean in and just like believe that life will find a way.

• 26:17Wendy Zukerman?

  Thanks, Joel.

• 26:18Speaker 06

  Thanks, Wendy.

• 26:23Wendy Zukerman?

  And Joel Werner has a brand new podcast out. It's a historical thriller called Assassins. It's from the ABC, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and it's hosted by Aslan Pahari, who maybe you know as the hello, my friend guy from TikTok. He's really great. And each episode of Assassins tells the story of one of history's most shocking assassinations, from Abraham Lincoln to Tupac. And there's some science in some of the episodes, too. Like, for 3,000 years, the death of Pharaoh Ramses III was a mystery until some scientists came along and solved the riddle. You can find Assassins wherever you get your podcasts.

• 27:14Speaker 09

  This episode was produced by Akedi Foster Keys with help from Wendy Zukerman, Michelle Dang, Rose Rimler, and Merrill Horn. We're edited by Blythe Terrell, fact checking by Diane Kelly, mix and sound design by Bobby Lord, music written by Emma Munger, So Wiley, Peter Leonard, Boomi Hadaka, and Bobby Lord. Thank you to all the scientists we spoke to for this episode, including Dr. Sarah Ackroyd, Dr. Sarah Collins, Professor Adam Taylor, and Dr. Cathy Flood. Special thanks to Joseph Lavelle Wilson and the Zukerman family.

• 27:56Speaker 00

  Are you looking for support in your weight management journey? Zepbound Terzepatide may be able to help. Zepbound is a prescription medicine used with a reduced calorie diet and increased physical activity to help adults with obesity, or some adults with overweight who also have weight-related medical problems, to lose excess body weight and keep the weight off. Zepbound is approved as a 2.5, 5, 7.5, 10, 12.5, or 15-milligram injection. Zepbound contains Terzepatide and should not be used with other Terzepatide-containing products or any GLP-1 receptor agonist medicines. It is not known if Zepbound is safe and effective for use in children. Don't share needles or pens, or reuse needles.

• 28:38Speaker 00

  Don't take if allergic to it, or if you or someone in your family had medullary thyroid cancer, or if you've had multiple endocrine neoplasia syndrome type 2. Tell your doctor if you get a lump or swelling in your neck. Stop Zepbound and call your doctor if you have severe stomach pain or a serious allergic reaction. Severe side effects may include inflamed pancreas or gallbladder problems. Tell your doctor if you experience vision changes before scheduled procedures with anesthesia. If you're nursing, pregnant, plan to be, or taking birth control pills. Taking Zepbound with a sulfonylurea or insulin may cause low blood sugar. Side effects include nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, which can cause dehydration and worsen kidney problems. Talk to your doctor. Call 1-800-545-5979, or visit zepbound.lily.com.