After seventeen years of pain & inflammation, I am (nervously) standing at the "Enbrel or MTX?" crossroads. The literature on both is enough to scare me to death. At nearly 32 y.o., I am concerned about not only lymphoma, infections, lupus-like syndrome and alopecia, but also about my future fertility. Some material says MTX can cause sterility; other material says no, it's only "teratogenic" & temporary.
The literature on Enbrel and other TNF-a inhibitors doesn't speak to fertility, but I came across an interesting British study last yr. on the web. Enbrel was being used to treat infertility in this UK study; specifically, to treat miscarriage. The researchers' thinking was that miscarriage is caused by inflammation (by the body rejecting the developing child in utero).
Thought this might be a helpful piece of info.