benzestrol

Benzestrol (, ) (brand names Chemestrogen, Ocestrol, Octestrol, Octoestrol, Octofollin) is a synthetic nonsteroidal estrogen of the stilbestrol group which was formerly used medically but has since been discontinued. The stilbestrol estrogens, the best-known of which is diethylstilbestrol (DES) were used extensively in the mid-1900s and were finally banned by the FDA due to them causing tumors in the children of women who used them.

==Medical uses== Benzestrol and other stilbestrol were used as synthetic estrogens in order to prevent premature births. Based on the idea that premature births happened because the mother did not produce enough estrogen on her own, doctors prescribed benzestrol to mothers in order to increase their estrogen levels.