Gonadotropin

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) is a placental hormone that acts as a long-lasting stand-in for luteinising hormone (LH), the pituitary signal that tells the testes to make testosterone. It has been used for decades to start puberty and sperm production in men whose pituitary makes too little LH and FSH, and to trigger ovulation in IVF. Low doses keep testosterone inside the testes near normal while men take testosterone. As a weight-loss injection, it does no better than placebo.

Human menopausal gonadotropin (hMG, menotropins) is a mixture of FSH and LH activity purified from the urine of postmenopausal women. Its main use is stimulating the ovaries for IVF, where a 2026 Cochrane review of 59 trials found slightly more live births and less ovarian hyperstimulation than with recombinant FSH. In men whose pituitary makes too little LH and FSH, it is added to hcg to start sperm production when hCG alone is not enough.