Desperate to conceive a child, they trust their doctors to give them the best possible treatment and guidance.

Instead, three out of 10 women seeking help for infertility are given a drug that's linked to a THREE-FOLD increase in the risk of birth defects.

Yes -- an infertility treatment that evidence suggests puts the unborn child in harm's way.

Are you outraged? I know I am. I think of my friends who have struggled to start families, of countless women who have been given the gift of hope, only to face heartbreak as they find their babies have birth defects.

How in the world does something like this happen?

The drug Femara (letrozole) is intended for the treatment of breast cancer in post-menopausal women. It has NOT been approved as a treatment for infertility.

Heck, the FDA even classifies the drug as posing a pregnancy risk.

Sure, it's been studied as an infertility treatment, but there hasn't been enough evidence that shows it's safe and effective. But there's one thing there IS evidence of -- a Canadian study in 2005 (2005! How many women have taken this drug in the five years since that study was conducted?) found nearly a three-fold increase in the risk of birth defects in a group of babies born after treatment with letrozole. Based on that study, doctors have been warned against using letrozole to treat infertility.

Still, a shocking 30% of women being treated for infertility are unknowingly given what might as well be poison by their doctors. "Off-label" use strikes again!

There are enough potential risks associated with using drugs to treat the conditions for which they're intended. But a whole new can of worms is opened once we start spiraling out with "it might work for this" and "oh, hey, let's try it for that." We're talking about a drug that nobody's been able to show actually has anything to do with treating infertility. But, hey, these women are desperate, right? They're the perfect guinea pigs. It's disgusting.

Once a drug is approved by the FDA, doctors can basically use them for whatever they want to. And even faced with the results of the Canadian study, some doctors are saying they'll still prescribe it.

Doctors at one clinic in Chicago use it to treat women with ovulation problems. They say the Canadian study was too small and flawed. Okay, but what about the fact that it hasn't been proven effective AND has been classified as posing a pregnancy risk?

Why in the world would you give a woman who wants to become pregnant a drug that introduces risk into that potential pregnancy? Can someone please explain this to me?

In the meantime, all we can do is spread the word. Do you know a woman who is trying to get pregnant? Please share this with her. And, as always, ask lots of questions in the doctor's office. If you have to be put on a drug, ask about the evidence behind it. If you don't get an answer that satisfies you, it's time to make a choice.

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