hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin)

Not a peptide in the sense the rest of this register uses the word. hCG is a glycoprotein hormone built from two separate chains held together without a chemical bond, both of them coated in sugar chains. The alpha chain is 92 amino acids in its finished form (UniProt P01215, 116 residues before a 24-residue signal is cut off) and is shared with three other human hormones; the beta chain is 145 (UniProt P0DN86, 165 before a 20-residue signal) and is the part that makes it hCG rather than something else. Because it is two chains and not one, no single one-letter string can describe it, which is why the sequence and the length are left empty here rather than guessed at. The placenta makes it during pregnancy, and it is the thing a pregnancy test detects. As a medicine it is either purified from the urine of pregnant women (Pregnyl, Novarel) or grown in cell culture as choriogonadotropin alfa (Ovitrelle, Ovidrel).

Sold as

Injection, on prescription. The urine-derived products are given into muscle; the recombinant one is given under the skin. The drops, sprays and pellets sold for weight loss are not approved for anything.

Legal status in the EU

The recombinant version, Ovitrelle (choriogonadotropin alfa), has been authorised across the EU since 2 February 2001 and is prescription only; it is licensed for triggering egg release in women and has no approved use in men or children. Urine-derived hCG such as Pregnyl is not centrally authorised by the EMA; it is approved country by country, and is likewise prescription only. Prohibited in sport for men at all times, in and out of competition: the 2026 WADA Prohibited List names chorionic gonadotrophin (CG) first under section S2.2.1, testosterone-stimulating peptides in males, a class in which everything is a non-specified substance. There is no approved hCG product for weight loss anywhere. In the United States the FDA and the Federal Trade Commission jointly warned seven companies in November 2011 that their over-the-counter 'homeopathic' hCG drops were unapproved and misbranded drugs, and the FDA states that hCG is not an established homeopathic ingredient in the first place.

hCG docks onto the same receptor as luteinising hormone, the pituitary signal that runs the ovaries and the testicles, and does that signal's job even when the pituitary has gone quiet. In women a single injection stands in for the mid-cycle surge that makes a ripe follicle release its egg and turns what is left behind into the small gland that supports an early pregnancy. In men it pushes the cells of the testicle to make testosterone directly, bypassing the brain — which is why it is used after anabolic steroids have switched the brain's own signal off. It has no established action on fat. The US label states that hCG has no known effect on fat mobilization, appetite or sense of hunger, or body fat distribution, and the FDA's 1974 review of the literature concluded that no direct effect of hCG on fat metabolism had been demonstrated by anyone promoting its use.

Part of the bodyWhat happensHow it is knownKind of evidence

The testicles, in men and boys

hCG is almost the same shape as LH, the pituitary signal that tells the testicles to make testosterone. Because it looks like that signal, it works even when the pituitary has gone quiet. The cells in the testicle that make testosterone switch on, and testosterone rises. In boys the same push can bring an undescended testicle down, and it can start the visible signs of puberty. In grown men it can make breast tissue grow, and it makes the body hold onto water and salt when the dose is high.

Described in the actions section of the US labels, which have carried the same text since the FDA wrote it in 1974. Measured across 103 studies of 5,328 men and boys with a pituitary hormone deficiency, in which testicle size, penis size and testosterone rose in more than 98 out of every 100 analyses.

Measured in people

Source [01]Source [06]

The ovaries, and the timing of ovulation

In a natural cycle the pituitary sends a sudden surge of LH that makes a ripe follicle burst and release its egg. hCG stands in for that surge. Given after other injections have grown the follicles, it finishes the egg off and makes the ovary let it go, which is why fertility clinics call it the trigger shot. It also keeps the emptied follicle producing progesterone afterwards, which is what holds a lining in place.

Measured in three controlled fertility trials behind the US approval of the recombinant product: 94 women and 97 women having IVF, and 99 women having ovulation induced. In the ovulation study 91 of the 99 women, 91.9%, ovulated.

Measured in people

Source [07]Source [12]

Body fat, appetite and hunger

Nothing that anyone has been able to measure. This is the use most people arrive asking about, and it is the one place where the evidence is not thin but actually negative: when hCG injections were compared with identical-looking salt-water injections in people eating the same very small diet, the hCG groups did not lose more weight, did not lose it from different places on the body, and did not report less hunger. The US label states this in its own words at the top of the indications section, in capital letters, and adds that hCG has no known effect on fat mobilisation, appetite or sense of hunger.

Measured against dummy injections in 51 women over 32 days and in 40 women over six weeks, and pooled across 24 published trials in a 1995 review that scored each one for how well it was run. The 1974 US regulatory review of the same literature found no adequate and well-controlled study supporting the use.

Measured in people

Source [01]Source [02]Source [04]Source [05]

Sperm production, in men whose own hormone signal is missing

Some men do not make the two pituitary signals that run the testicles, so they make neither testosterone nor sperm. Testosterone tablets or gels fix the first problem and make the second one worse. hCG replaces the missing LH signal directly at the testicle, and over many months sperm can start to appear. Adding FSH, the other missing signal, works better than hCG on its own.

Pooled across 103 studies of 5,328 patients from 21 countries, with a median of 18 months of treatment, and separately across 41 studies of 1,673 men with an average age of 25.

Measured in people

Source [06]Source [15]

Coming off anabolic steroids

Taking anabolic steroids switches off the brain's signal to the testicles, and when the steroids stop, that signal can stay off for months. Men describe low mood, exhaustion and no sex drive during that gap. hCG is used to jump the gap, because it acts on the testicle directly and does not need the switched-off pituitary. This is not an approved use anywhere, and the doctors who published the largest study of it write plainly that there is no objective evidence it shortens the recovery or softens the symptoms.

Measured through blood tests in 641 men attending one UK clinic service between 2015 and 2022 after stopping steroids, and in a review of the notes of 49 men at two American fertility clinics. Neither study assigned anyone to a group by chance, and in the larger one the drug use was self-reported.

Measured in people

Source [16]Source [17]Source [18]

Pregnancy tests and hormone blood tests

A home pregnancy test works by detecting hCG. An injection of it therefore makes the test read positive whether or not anyone is pregnant, for as long as the injected hormone is still around. The label for the recombinant product warns about this directly. hCG also confuses laboratory measurements of the body's own pituitary hormones, especially LH, so the lab has to be told.

Stated in the precautions sections of both US labels. The half-life measured in healthy women after a single injection under the skin was about 29 hours, with the peak blood level reached 12 to 24 hours after the injection.

Measured in people

Source [01]Source [12]

Against its control arm the weight-loss use failed, repeatedly. In a randomised double-blind trial of 51 women on an identical 500-calorie diet, weight lost, percentage of starting weight lost, hip and waist measurement and hunger ratings were all statistically the same in the 25 women given hCG and the 26 given saline (Stein 1976); a trial of 40 women on a 5,000 kJ diet for six weeks found no advantage on any variable recorded (Bosch 1990); and in two of the trials the FDA reviewed, the hCG groups lost 6.5 pounds against 8.8 in the controls, and 237 grams a day against 270. A criteria-based meta-analysis scored 24 published trials out of 100 for how well they were run; of the 12 scoring 50 or more, one concluded hCG was a useful addition, and the review's own conclusion is that there is no scientific evidence that hCG is effective in the treatment of obesity (Lijesen 1995). The approved uses stand on much firmer ground. Pooling 103 studies of 5,328 males with a missing pituitary signal, testicular volume, penile size and testosterone rose in over 98% of analyses, and sperm production was achieved in 86% (95% CI 82-91) on hCG with FSH against 40% (95% CI 25-56) on hCG alone (Alexander 2024). The recombinant trigger injection was approved on three controlled fertility trials; in the ovulation-induction one, 91 of 99 women ovulated at a rate the US label reports as statistically equivalent to the approved urine-derived product it was compared against. For restarting a man's own testosterone after anabolic steroids, no randomised trial exists at all.

As a single fertility injection, it works fast: the blood level peaks 12 to 24 hours after an injection under the skin, the hormone that shows the ovary is responding is already climbing by 24 hours, and half of the dose has gone after about 29 hours. That is also how long it goes on making a pregnancy test read positive. For an undescended testicle the courses in the label run three to six weeks. For restarting sperm production in a man with a missing pituitary signal it is far slower: the studies pooled in the 2024 review ran for a median of 18 months. For the diet, the regimen the trials tested was 40 injections over about six weeks, and at no point during those six weeks did the hCG groups pull ahead of the dummy-injection groups.

What was measuredWhat happenedIn whomHow it is known

Weight lost on a very small diet, with hCG or with a dummy injection

No statistically significant difference between the two groups in weight lost, in the percentage of starting weight lost, in hip or waist measurement, or in how hungry people said they were.

51 women aged 18 to 60 on the same 500-calorie diet, put into the hCG group or the dummy-injection group by chance, with neither they nor the doctors weighing them told which; 32 days, up to 28 injections

Measured in people

Source [05]

Weight, hunger, body measurements and psychological profile on a 5,000 kJ diet

The women given hCG showed no advantage over the women given salt-water injections on any of the things measured.

40 women with a body mass index above 30, all on the same 5,000 kJ (about 1,200 calorie) diet, injected six days a week for six weeks, with neither they nor the researchers told which injection they had

Measured in people

Source [11]

Everything the hCG diet is sold for, pooled across the published trials

Of the 12 studies that scored 50 or more out of 100 for how well they were run — all of which had a comparison group — exactly one concluded that hCG was a useful addition. The review's authors conclude there is no scientific evidence that hCG causes weight loss, moves fat around the body, holds off hunger or makes people feel better.

24 published reports covering eight controlled and 16 uncontrolled trials, scored from 16 to 73 points out of a possible 100

Measured in people

Source [04]

Weight lost against a comparison group, in two of the trials the US regulator reviewed

In the first, the 11 women on hCG lost an average of 6.5 pounds and the 9 women on dummy injections lost 8.8 pounds. In the second, the 20 women on hCG lost 237 grams a day and the 18 women on diet alone lost 270 grams a day. Both figures are the regulator's own summary of those papers, taken from its 1974 review, not from the papers themselves.

20 women on a 550-calorie diet in the first trial; 38 of 44 women on a 500-calorie diet for three weeks in the second

Measured in people

Source [02]

Sperm appearing in men who could not make any, because their pituitary signal was missing

Sperm production started in 86 out of every 100 men given hCG together with FSH, against 40 out of every 100 given hCG on its own. The likely range for the first figure runs from 82 to 91 out of 100, and for the second from 25 to 56.

103 studies from 21 countries, 5,328 males with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, median 18 months of treatment

Measured in people

Source [06]

How much sperm, rather than whether any appeared at all

78% of men reached any sperm at all, but only 24% reached 10 million per millilitre and only 15% reached 20 million — the sort of count usually needed to father a child naturally. There was no untreated comparison group; the comparison here is against sperm-count thresholds, and combined hCG plus FSH beat hCG alone at every one of them.

41 studies, 1,673 men with a pituitary hormone deficiency, average age 25, median 18 months of treatment

Measured in people

Source [15]

Eggs collected in IVF, recombinant hCG against the urine-derived kind

The 94 women given the 250 microgram recombinant injection had 13.60 eggs collected each on average. The label states this was clinically and statistically equivalent to the 10,000 unit urine-derived injection it was compared against, but does not print that group's number, so the two figures cannot be laid side by side here.

297 women having IVF at 20 US centres, assigned by chance, everyone knowing which they had, one cycle

Measured in people

Source [12]

Reactions where the needle went in, recombinant against urine-derived

14.6% of the 335 women on the recombinant injection had a reaction at the injection site, against 28% of the 328 women on the approved urine-derived product.

752 women across four fertility studies, three of IVF and one of ovulation induction

Measured in people

Source [12]

Time to normal hormones after stopping anabolic steroids

Men who said they had used hCG-based post-cycle therapy reached normal readings after a median of 13.0 weeks, against 26.0 weeks in the men who had not. Only 48.2% of all the men reached normal readings at all. This was a look back through clinic records, not a trial: nobody was assigned to a group, and the drug use was what the men reported themselves.

641 men who had a single blood test within 36 months of stopping anabolic steroids, at one UK service, 2015 to 2022

Measured in people

Source [16]

An undescended testicle coming all the way down, in boys

Hormone treatment of any kind brought the testicle fully down about 3.7 times as often as in the untreated comparison groups, with a likely range of 2.8 to 5.0 times. In absolute terms the success rate was 22 out of every 100 boys treated, so roughly four in five gained nothing. A separate pooling of 13 randomised trials put hCG at 24% and the alternative hormone at 19%. Narrowed to hCG against a dummy injection specifically, the answer is that nobody knows: only two randomised trials made that comparison, between them in 31 boys, and the pooled result runs from 0.14 to 425.72 — a range wide enough to contain any conclusion at all.

27 studies in the first pooling; 13 randomised controlled trials in the second; and seven randomised trials in the third, of which two used a placebo arm (31 boys), all in boys with undescended testicles

Studies in people disagree

Source [19]Source [20]Source [21]

In women the main danger is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, where the ovaries swell and fluid leaks into the belly: about 4 in 100 women in the trials behind the EU product information, and 4 of 236 (1.7%) on the 250 microgram recombinant dose in the IVF trials behind the US label against 8 of 89 (9.0%) on the double dose. Blood clots, ovarian torsion and severe allergic reactions are rare but can be fatal, and multiple births occurred in 17 of 55 live deliveries after IVF. In men it can cause breast growth and make the body hold water; in boys treated for an undescended testicle it can start puberty years too early, one of the reasons the Nordic specialist consensus recommends surgery instead. Separately, the FDA states it has received reports of clots in the lung, depression, problems with the blood vessels of the brain, cardiac arrest and death in people injecting hCG to lose weight, and warns that the 500-calorie diet sold alongside it carries its own risk of gallstones, salt imbalance and irregular heartbeat.

EffectWhat it feels likeHow often

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndromeSerious

The ovaries swell and the walls of small blood vessels start to leak, so fluid collects in the belly and sometimes around the lungs. The early warning signs are severe pelvic pain, feeling sick, being sick and putting on weight quickly. It usually appears after the treatment has finished and peaks about seven to ten days later. The severe form can be life-threatening and needs hospital care.

About 4 in every 100 women in the trials behind the EU product information, with the severe form in fewer than 5 in every 1,000. In the trials behind the US label it happened to 4 of 236 women (1.7%) on the 250 microgram dose in IVF and 3 of 99 (3.0%) having ovulation induced, against 8 of 89 (9.0%) on the double dose.

Source [01]Source [07]Source [12]

Blood clots, including in the lungs and the brainSerious

A clot can block the blood supply to an organ or a limb. What has followed in reported cases includes clots in the leg veins, clots in the lung, stroke, and blockages in arteries that cost people a limb and, rarely, caused a heart attack. In rare cases these have been fatal. Women with a personal or family history of clotting, severe obesity or a clotting disorder are at higher risk.

Classed as very rare in the EU product information — fewer than 1 in every 10,000 patients. Clots have been reported both alongside ovarian hyperstimulation and on their own.

Source [01]Source [07]

Serious events reported to the US regulator by people using it to dietSerious

The FDA states it has received reports of clots in the lung, depression, problems with the blood vessels of the brain, the heart stopping, and death, in people using hCG injections for weight loss. Some of what appears in such reports belongs to the 500-calorie diet rather than to the hormone.

Not measurable. These are spontaneous reports, which means somebody suspected a link and wrote in. There is no total number of users to divide by, so no rate can be worked out from them, and a report is not proof that the drug caused anything.

Source [13]

The harms of the 500-calorie diet the injections are sold withSerious

Gallstones, an imbalance of the salts that keep muscles and nerves working, and an irregular heartbeat. The FDA's position is that a very low calorie diet should only be followed under proper medical supervision, and that it is the diet, not the hormone, doing whatever weight loss happens.

Not given as a percentage. The FDA names them as an increased risk for anyone living on a very low calorie diet.

Source [22]Source [23]

Severe allergic reactionsSerious

Ranges from a rash to a whole-body reaction with a collapse in blood pressure. Anyone who has reacted badly to a gonadotropin before should not have it again.

Very rare in the EU product information — fewer than 1 in every 10,000. The US label for the urine-derived product states plainly that anaphylaxis has been reported with it.

Source [01]Source [07]

Twins and tripletsSerious

A multiple pregnancy carries more risk for the mother and for the babies. In IVF the number is driven mainly by how many embryos are put back rather than by the trigger injection itself. The labels tell doctors to warn people about this before starting.

17 of the 55 live deliveries (30.9%) after IVF with the 250 microgram injection were multiple births, against 2 of 15 (13.3%) in the ovulation-induction trial.

Source [12]

Puberty arriving years too early, in boysSerious

Pubic hair, a growing penis, acne and a growth spurt in a young child. The concern is not only the visible change: sex hormones arriving early make the bones mature early too. The Nordic specialist group reviewing this treatment recommended against hormone treatment for undescended testicles in general, citing both the poor results and possible long-term effects on sperm production, and preferred surgery.

Not given as a percentage. The Pregnyl label names it as a consequence of the androgen rise in boys treated for an undescended testicle, and tells prescribers to stop the treatment if signs appear.

Source [01]Source [24]

Ovarian torsionSerious

A swollen ovary can twist on its own stalk and cut off its blood supply. It is more likely alongside hyperstimulation, pregnancy, previous abdominal surgery or an existing cyst. Caught early and untwisted quickly, the ovary can usually be saved.

Not given as a percentage. Reported after treatment with gonadotropins including hCG.

Source [01]

Soreness, bruising and swelling where the needle went in

Pain and bruising are the two most often recorded. In the IVF trials injection site pain was noted in 7.6% and bruising in 4.7% of women on the 250 microgram dose.

14.6% of 335 women on the recombinant injection, against 28% of 328 women on the urine-derived one. Classed as common in the EU product information — between 1 in 100 and 1 in 10.

Source [07]Source [12]

Breast growth in men

hCG pushes the testicles to make more testosterone, and some of that testosterone is converted into oestrogen, which is what grows breast tissue. It sits in the label's list of effects specific to men, alongside water and salt retention after high doses.

Not given as a percentage. The Pregnyl label says hCG treatment may sporadically cause it.

Source [01]

Headache, tiredness, irritability, restlessness and low mood

The US label groups irritability, restlessness and depression together as psychiatric effects, and lists headache, swelling and tiredness separately, for both men and women.

Headache is classed as common in the EU product information — between 1 in 100 and 1 in 10. The others are listed on the US label without a frequency.

Source [01]Source [07]Source [25]

These are the amounts the studies below gave their participants, and they are here as facts about those studies. They are not a recommendation, not a starting point and not a range to pick from. What a person should take, if anything, is a question for a doctor who knows them.

The Simeons regimen, the origin of the hCG diet, as described and then rejected in the US regulator's 1974 review of the published literature

125 international units injected into muscle, six times a week, alongside a 500-calorie diet

To a total of 40 injections, roughly six to seven weeks

Source [02]

The IVF trials behind the US approval of the recombinant product

250 micrograms injected under the skin, once, the day after the last follicle-stimulating injection

A single injection in one treatment cycle, in 94 and 97 women

Source [12]

Triggering ovulation with the urine-derived product, in the US label

5,000 to 10,000 USP units injected into muscle, one day after the last dose of the other gonadotropin

A single injection per cycle

Source [01]

Selected men with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism, in the US label

500 to 1,000 USP units three times a week, or 4,000 USP units three times a week, injected into muscle

Six weeks in the first regimen; six to nine months in the second, then a reduced dose for three months more

Source [01]

Boys aged 4 to 9 with an undescended testicle, in the US label

Four different regimens are printed, from 500 USP units three times a week to 5,000 USP units every second day, injected into muscle

From four injections over about a week to six weeks, with a second course a month later if the first did not work

Source [01]

The chart review of men whose sperm count had collapsed while they were taking testosterone, at two American fertility clinics

3,000 units injected under the skin every other day, with clomiphene, tamoxifen, anastrozole or FSH added depending on the doctor

Until sperm returned, which took an average of 4.6 months in the 47 of 49 men whose counts recovered

Source [17]

What people report

• Whether hCG does anything at all to human fat. No mechanism has ever been demonstrated: the 1974 regulatory review states that no direct effect of hCG on fat metabolism had been shown, and nothing published since has changed that.
• What would happen in a modern trial of the hCG diet. Searching the ClinicalTrials.gov registry on 3 August 2026 for the intervention “chorionic gonadotropin” against the condition “weight loss” returned zero registered studies, and the quoted phrase “HCG diet” returned zero. Both terms have to be searched in quotation marks: unquoted, the registry matches the words separately and returns unrelated fertility studies in women with obesity.
• How many people are using it for weight loss now, and where they get it. The unapproved drops and sprays are sold outside any register, so there is no denominator for anything.
• What is actually in an unapproved hCG product. The FDA's 2011 letters describe them as labelled homeopathic, which means diluted past the point of being detectable, and the agency states hCG is not an established homeopathic ingredient at all.
• Whether the reported deaths, clots and cardiac arrests in people injecting it to diet were caused by the hormone, by the 500-calorie diet, or by something else entirely. Spontaneous reports cannot answer that, and nobody has run the study that could.
• Whether hCG does anything for men coming off anabolic steroids that stopping alone would not do. Nobody has assigned men to hCG or to no hCG by chance; the two most-cited studies are a retrospective clinic cohort and a review of 49 sets of notes with no comparison group.
• Whether the faster hormone recovery seen in men who used post-cycle therapy is the drug or the kind of man who uses it. The authors of that study call the association surprising and say it needs investigating.
• What happens to fertility decades after a boy is treated for an undescended testicle with hCG. The Nordic specialist group cited possible long-term effects on sperm production as a reason to prefer surgery, and the trials are far too short to settle it.
• Whether hCG specifically does anything for an undescended testicle. The poolings that report a benefit are pooling hCG with the other hormone used for this; the one that isolates hCG against a dummy injection had 31 boys in total and could not tell. The largest pooling also found its improvement in germ cell numbers only in the group given the other hormone, not in the hCG group.
• How the recombinant and the urine-derived products compare on live births rather than on eggs collected. The US label reports equivalence on the number of eggs retrieved and does not print the comparison group's figures for anything else.
• Whether hCG on its own is ever enough to restore sperm production, or whether FSH is always needed. Pooled results favour the combination heavily — 86 in 100 against 40 in 100 — but almost none of the underlying studies compared the two head to head in the same patients.
• What dose, if any, is right for men outside the approved fertility uses. The doses circulating in the steroid scene, up to 3,000 units every other day, come from clinic practice reported after the fact, not from any dose-finding study.
• What hCG does to men's long-term health when it is used for months or years outside a fertility clinic. The label's own safety data come from short courses in supervised patients.

Does hCG work for weight loss?

No. When people on the same very small diet were given either hCG or a dummy injection without knowing which, the hCG groups did not lose more weight and were not less hungry — that was the result in a trial of 51 women, in a separate trial of 40 women, and in a 1995 review that pooled 24 published trials. The US prescribing information says so on the label itself, in capital letters, at the top of the indications section.

Source [01]Source [04]Source [05]

Why do people lose weight on the hCG diet then?

Because the diet it comes with is about 500 calories a day. The FDA's position is blunt: any loss is from the severe calorie restriction, not from the hCG. Living on 500 calories a day also carries its own risks — gallstones, an imbalance of the body's salts, and an irregular heartbeat — which is why the regulator says it should only be done under medical supervision.

Source [22]Source [23]

Can you buy hCG over the counter?

Not legally. Every approved hCG product is an injection that needs a prescription, in both the US and the EU. In December 2011 the FDA and the US trade regulator sent seven companies warning letters telling them their over-the-counter hCG drops, pellets and sprays were unapproved and misbranded drugs, and the FDA has stated that all products claiming to contain “homeopathic” hCG are illegally marketed.

Source [10]Source [13]

hCG vs semaglutide — which one actually works for weight loss?

They are not comparable. Semaglutide is approved for weight management on the strength of large randomised trials with a placebo arm, and Peptide Reader grades it accordingly. hCG has never been approved for weight loss anywhere, and its trials did not beat their dummy injections. The honest comparison is not between two weight-loss drugs but between one drug that was tested and passed and one that was tested and did not.

Source [01]Source [04]

What is hCG actually approved for?

In the US, three things: triggering ovulation in women being treated for infertility, selected cases of men whose pituitary gland does not send the signal to the testicles, and undescended testicles in boys where there is no physical blockage. In the EU the recombinant version, Ovitrelle, is approved only for the two fertility uses, and has been since February 2001. Weight loss is not on any of those lists.

Source [01]Source [26]

Is hCG good for post-cycle therapy after steroids?

It is the most widely used drug for it, and it is not approved for it. The best evidence is a look back through the records of 641 men who had stopped steroids: those who said they had used post-cycle therapy reached normal hormone readings after a median of 13 weeks against 26 weeks for those who had not, but only 48.2% reached normal readings at all, nobody was assigned to a group, and the drug use was self-reported. The authors of the largest survey of these men write that the practice has no objective evidence of effectiveness.

Source [16]Source [18]

Is hCG banned in sport?

Yes, for men, at all times — in competition and out of it. The 2026 WADA Prohibited List names chorionic gonadotrophin in section S2.2.1, “Testosterone-stimulating peptides in males”, alongside luteinising hormone and the GnRH drugs. Everything in section S2 is a non-specified substance, which is the stricter category.

Source [08]

Will an hCG injection make a pregnancy test positive?

Yes. A pregnancy test works by detecting hCG, so an injection of it reads as a pregnancy whether or not there is one. The label for the recombinant product warns that it may interfere with the interpretation of pregnancy tests. Half of a single dose is still in the blood about 29 hours after the injection, and it takes several days to clear.

Source [12]

What are the side effects of hCG?

In women the one that matters most is ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome — swollen ovaries and fluid leaking into the belly — which happened to about 4 in every 100 women in the trials behind the EU product information, with the severe form in fewer than 5 in 1,000. Blood clots are very rare but can be serious. In men it can make breast tissue grow and the body hold water, and in boys it can start puberty early. Sore, bruised injection sites, headache, tiredness and irritability are the common minor ones.

Source [01]Source [07]

1. [01]DailyMed - PREGNYL (chorionic gonadotropin) for injection, Organon, revised 03/2025: the obesity statement in capitals at the head of Indications and Usage, the three approved indications, contraindications, ovarian torsion, gynaecomastia and precocious puberty (2025)
2. [02]Federal Register, Vol. 39, No. 235, 5 December 1974, pages 42397-42402 - Chorionic Gonadotropin, Follow-up Notice and Opportunity for Hearing (DESI 2811, Docket FDC-D-230, NDA 2-811): the notice that wrote the labelling text, the FDA's summaries of the Craig and Hastrup trials, and the finding that no direct effect of HCG on fat metabolism has been demonstrated (1974)
3. [03]Federal Register, Vol. 40, 12 February 1975, page 6523 - Chorionic Gonadotropin, Follow-Up Notice and Opportunity for Hearing; Correction: the type size of both obesity paragraphs changed to all capital letters (1975)
4. [04]Lijesen GK, Theeuwen I, Assendelft WJ, Van Der Wal G. The effect of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG) in the treatment of obesity by means of the Simeons therapy: a criteria-based meta-analysis. Br J Clin Pharmacol 1995;40(3):237-43 - 24 trials scored 16 to 73 out of 100; of the 12 scoring 50 or more, one reported HCG useful (1995)
5. [05]Stein MR et al. Ineffectiveness of human chorionic gonadotropin in weight reduction: a double-blind study. Am J Clin Nutr 1976;29(9):940-8 - 51 women, 25 on hCG and 26 on placebo, 32 days on the same diet, no significant difference in any measure (1976)
6. [06]Alexander EC et al. Gonadotropins for pubertal induction in males with hypogonadotropic hypogonadism: systematic review and meta-analysis. Eur J Endocrinol 2024;190(1):S1-S11 - 103 studies, 5,328 patients; spermatogenesis 86% (95% CI 82-91) with hCG+FSH against 40% (95% CI 25-56) with hCG alone (2024)
7. [07]EMA - Ovitrelle (choriogonadotropin alfa), summary of product characteristics: authorised indications, OHSS in approximately 4% and severe OHSS in under 0.5%, terminal half-life about 30 hours, interference with pregnancy testing for up to ten days
8. [08]WADA - World Anti-Doping Code International Standard, Prohibited List 2026, section S2.2.1: testosterone-stimulating peptides in males, first entry chorionic gonadotrophin (CG); S2 prohibited at all times, in and out of competition, all non-specified substances (2026)
9. [09]UniProt P01215 (glycoprotein hormones alpha chain, 116 residues, mature chain 25-116) and P0DN86 (choriogonadotropin subunit beta 3, 165 residues, mature chain 21-165) - the two chains, which is why no single one-letter sequence is printed
10. [10]FDA/FTC joint Warning Letter SEA 12-08, 28 November 2011: 'HCG Extra Weight Loss Homeopathic Drops' an unapproved new drug and misbranded; HCG is not an established homeopathic active ingredient included in the HPUS or any addendum (2011)
11. [11]Bosch B, Venter I, Stewart RI, Bertram SR. Human chorionic gonadotrophin and weight loss. A double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, S Afr Med J 1990;77(4):185-9 — 40 women with BMI over 30 on a 5,000 kJ diet, daily injection of hCG or saline six days a week for six weeks; no advantage on any variable recorded (1990)
12. [12]DailyMed — OVIDREL PreFilled Syringe (choriogonadotropin alfa), EMD Serono: Study 8209 ovulation rate 91 of 99 (91.9%); OHSS 4 of 236 (1.7%) at 250 µg against 8 of 89 (9.0%) at 500 µg; multiple births 17 of 55 live deliveries after IVF (2018)
13. [13]FDA — Questions and Answers on HCG Products for Weight Loss: reports of pulmonary embolism, depression, cerebrovascular issues, cardiac arrest and death; and the gallstone, electrolyte and arrhythmia risks of a very low calorie diet
14. [14]UniProt P0DN86 — choriogonadotropin subunit beta 3; 165 residues, signal 1-20, mature chain 21-165 = the 145-residue beta chain
15. [15]Muir CA et al., Efficacy of gonadotropin treatment for induction of spermatogenesis in men with pathologic gonadotropin deficiency: a meta-analysis, Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 2025;102(2):167–177 (41 studies, 1,673 patients) (2025)
16. [16]Grant B et al., Factors predicting normalization of reproductive hormones after cessation of anabolic-androgenic steroids in men: a single centre retrospective study, Eur J Endocrinol 2023;189(6):601–610 (641 men) (2023)
17. [17]Wenker EP et al., The use of hCG-based combination therapy for recovery of spermatogenesis after testosterone use, J Sex Med 2015;12(6):1334–7 (49 men, retrospective chart review, no comparison group) (2015)
18. [18]Grant B et al., The use of post-cycle therapy is associated with reduced withdrawal symptoms from anabolic-androgenic steroid use: a survey of 470 men, Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy 2023;18:66 — “this practice has no objective evidence of effectiveness” (2023)
19. [19]Zhang K, Zhang Y, Chao M. Effect of adjunctive hormonal therapy on testicular descent and spermatogenic function among children with cryptorchidism: systematic review and meta-analysis, Hormones (Athens) 2021;20(1):119–129 — risk ratio 3.74 (95% CI 2.78–5.04), success rate 22.43% (2021)
20. [20]Bu Q et al., The effectiveness of hCG and LHRH in boys with cryptorchidism: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials, Horm Metab Res 2016;48(5):318–24 — success 24% with hCG and 19% with LHRH; the hormones cannot be recommended for everyone because of their low success rates (2016)
21. [21]Wei Y et al., Efficacy and safety of human chorionic gonadotropin for treatment of cryptorchidism: a meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials, J Paediatr Child Health 2018;54(8):900–906 — hCG not superior to placebo (RR 7.74, 95% CI 0.14–425.72, two trials, n = 31); no difference against GnRH in unilateral (n = 81) or bilateral (n = 104) cases; overall study quality described as low (2018)
22. [22]FDA press release, 6 December 2011 — FDA, FTC act to remove “homeopathic” HCG weight loss products from the market: gallstone formation, electrolyte imbalance, heart arrhythmias (2011)
23. [23]FDA Consumer Update — Avoid Dangerous HCG Diet Products: “any loss is from severe calorie restriction. Not from the HCG.” (2020)
24. [24]Ritzén EM et al., Nordic consensus on treatment of undescended testes, Acta Paediatr 2007;96(5):638–43 — hormonal treatment not recommended, given the poor immediate results and possible long term adverse effects on spermatogenesis (2007)
25. [25]DailyMed — Chorionic Gonadotropin for Injection USP (Fresenius Kabi), precautions: since androgens may cause fluid retention, HCG should be used with caution in patients with cardiac or renal disease, epilepsy, migraine or asthma
26. [26]EMA — Ovitrelle (choriogonadotropin alfa), European public assessment report; authorised 2 February 2001 (2001)