Outcome of conceived babies whilst partner on Methotrexate!!!

[Su5an]

I am aware this subject has been post in the past but no one seems to be responding and it may be because they dont need this site at present due to them having had their babies now.
My partner is on 25mg of Methotrexate per week and we have been told not to try for a baby as it will have many difficulties physically and mentally. On finding this site it would seem there is not enough evidence to support this if the male takes it but if the female does then these are the warnings you get. I see many people have fallen pregnant whilst their partner takes Metho and I wondered how the pregnancy went and if their were any issues at full term. We were advised to store sperm before the treatmemt started which we did as my partner was only to be on Metho for 6 months but that was 3 1/2yrs ago and he is now on it for life. When we went to see about IVF we were told we would need to pay for it which was a shock as at the beginning it was to be free due to the drugs etc... We cant afford IVF so we are considering trying to conceive whilst he remains on the Metho if all the previous post have gone well. He can't come off the drug as severe side effects.
Can anyone give me advice please.
Many thanks.

[Su5an]

Thanks for that information. I think I still have a lot of researching to do but many thanks for your help.

[Su5an]

Thanks for your help and I will look at the link you have posted. Many thanks.

[LauraBerlin]

I read about his drug after reading your post.  The warnings about even getting a woman pregnant after stopping the drug are pretty serious and they warnings for getting a woman pregnant while on the drug are even stronger.  There is a toll free phone number to call on this drug information website.  You should also try to contact the drug manufacturer...to find out what the birth defects could be...or if it could be serious for you being pregnant.  Here is the link:  http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/meds/a682019.html
Good luck and hopefully you get some good news!

[mikaleen]

I'm sorry I have no personal experience with this, and there are really no human studies because of the potential of birth defects.  The best I could find is the effects on germ cells in mice.  maybe your husband could have a sperm analysis to check the health of his sperm?

Abstract

Methotrexate (MTX) is an anti-metabolite drug widely used in the treatment of neoplastic disorders, rheumatoid arthritis and psoriasis. Developed as an analogue of folic acid, it inhibits purine and pyrimidine synthesis that accounts for its therapeutic efficacy as well as for its toxicities. MTX has narrow therapeutic index and its toxicity has been reported in various organ systems including gastrointestinal, haematologic and central nervous system. The objective of the present study is to investigate the germ cell toxicity induced by MTX in male Swiss mice. MTX was administered intraperitoneally (ip) at the doses of 5, 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg to mice (20-25 g) weekly once (wk) for 5 and 10 weeks. The animals were sacrificed 1 week after receiving the last treatment of MTX. The germ cell toxicity was evaluated using testes weight (wt), sperm count, sperm head morphology, sperm comet assay, histology, TUNEL and halo assay in testis. MTX treatment significantly reduced the sperm count and increased the occurrence of sperm head abnormalities in a dose dependent manner. It induced the testicular toxicity as evident from the histology of testis. Sperm comet, TUNEL and halo assay in testis also revealed significant DNA damage after MTX treatment. On the basis of the present study, it can be concluded that MTX induced germ cell toxicity in mice.