We hear a lot about a woman’s biological clock and how age affects the chances of conceiving.
New research shows that men’s fertility is also affected by age. When the father is over 50, the risk of pregnancy complications increases.
Data on more than 46 million births in the United States between 2011 and 2022 compared fathers age 30 to fathers age 50.
After taking into account the mother’s age and other factors that influence pregnancy outcomes, the researchers found that every ten-year increase in the father’s age was associated with more complications.
The researchers found that couples in which the father was 30-39 years old, compared with couples in which the father was 50 years old, had:
- the risk of premature birth increases by 16%
- 14% increased risk of low birth weight
- 13% increase in gestational diabetes.
Older fathers were twice as likely to use assisted reproductive technology, including IVF, to conceive than younger fathers.
dad is getting old
In this US study, the average age of all fathers increased from 30.8 years in 2011 to 32.1 years in 2022.
Over the same period, the proportion of men who fathered children aged 50 or older increased from 1.1% to 1.3%.
We don’t know how many men over the age of 50 in Australia are fathering children, but statistics show the average age of fathers has increased.
The average age of Australian fathers was 28.6 years in 1975. This will rise to 33.7 years in 2022.
How a man’s age affects conception
As we know from media reports about celebrity fathers, men produce sperm throughout their lives, from puberty onwards, and can father children well into old age.
However, after the age of 40, sperm quality begins to decline significantly.
Female partners of older men take longer to conceive than female partners of younger men.
A study of the effect of male age on timing of conception showed that women with a male partner aged 45 years or older were almost five times more likely to take more than a year to conceive than women with a partner aged 25 years or younger. More than three quarters (76.8%) of men under the age of 25 got their female partner pregnant within six months, while more than half (52.9%) of men over the age of 45 did so.
Data collected from ten studies showed that partners of older men were also more likely to have a miscarriage. Compared to couples where the man was 25 to 29 years old, the risk of miscarriage increased by 43% when the father was over 45 years old.
Older men are more likely to need IVF
The outcomes of assisted reproductive technologies, such as IVF, are also affected by the age of the male partner.
A review of studies on couples using assisted reproductive technologies found that couples with fathers under the age of 40 had a roughly 25% lower risk of miscarriage than couples with fathers over the age of 40.
The chance of a live birth per treatment cycle nearly doubled with a man under the age of 40. With a man over the age of 40, a live birth occurred in 17.6% of treatment rounds, compared to 28.4% with a man under the age of 40.
How does the age of boys affect the health of children?
As a result of age-related changes in sperm DNA, children of older fathers have an increased risk for a number of diseases. Autism, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and leukemia have been linked to increased age of the father.
A review of studies assessing the effect of older fathers’ age reported that children of older fathers have higher rates of psychiatric and behavioral disorders.
But while the risk of adverse health outcomes associated with older fathers’ age is real, the magnitude of the effect is modest. It’s important to remember that a very small risk increase is still a small risk and most children of older fathers are born healthy and develop well.
Improving your health can improve your fertility
In addition to the effects of aging, certain chronic diseases that affect fertility and reproductive outcomes become more common as men age. These include obesity and diabetes, which affect sperm quality by lowering testosterone levels.
Although we can’t change our age, some lifestyle factors that increase the risk of pregnancy complications and reduce fertility can be addressed. These include:
- Smoking
- recreational drug use
- anabolic steroid use
- Excessive alcohol consumption.
Know the facts about the male biological clock
Research shows that men want children just as much as women do. And most men want at least two children.
Yet most men lack information about the limits of female and male fertility and overestimate their chances of becoming pregnant, with or without assisted reproductive technologies.
We need better public education, starting in school, to raise awareness of the impact of male and female age on reproductive outcomes and help people have healthy children.
For men wanting to increase their chances of conceiving, the government-funded websites Healthy Male and Your Fertility are a good start. These provide evidence-based and accessible information about reproductive health, and tips to improve your reproductive health and give your children the best start in life.
,Author: Karin Hammarberg, Senior Research Fellow, Global and Women’s Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University)
,disclosure statement: Karin Hammarberg works for the Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority which manages your fertility program)
This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
