Mar 4, 2021 07:20 PM
https://theconversation.com/male-fertili...ren-156411
EXCERPTS: Older men fathering children is not unknown, especially in the world of celebrities. Rod Stewart became a dad for the eighth time at 66, Mick Jagger at the age of 72, and Bernie Ecclestone became a father again at the age of 89 in July 2020. Men can produce sperm from puberty to a ripe old age and continue to father children as long as they do so.
Women, on the other hand, have a limited fertile window. Past 51 – the average age of menopause – they cease to release any eggs and become infertile. Both men and women are delaying having children. The average age of first-time mothers in the UK is nearly 29 and fathers 33.
The biological difference often lead to discussions of women’s biological clocks running out, while men are under the impression they’ll stay fertile for much longer. But the reality is much more complex than that. There is a growing body of research showing that men’s fertility is hugely affected by age.
[...] Men’s fertility doesn’t stop as abruptly as women’s. The testis can still produce the male hormone testosterone and sperm cells, enabling some men to father children in to their 90s.
However, this doesn’t mean men’s fertility is unaffected by age. One study showed after adjusting for female age, conception during a 12-month period was 30% less likely for men over the age of 40 compared with men younger than 30.
Although sperm is still being produced, the quality changes. The number of sperm produced, called the concentration or count, how well the sperm swim, known as their motility, and the shape of the sperm, called their morphology, are all known to change with age.
[...] Older fathers are also associated with negative effects on the child. Older men can accumulate damage and mutations in sperm DNA that may result in increased risks of unsuccessful or abnormal pregnancies, because of fertilisation with damaged sperm. The offspring of older fathers show high prevalence of genetic abnormalities, childhood cancers and several neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism, psychosis and bipolar disorders... (MORE - details)
EXCERPTS: Older men fathering children is not unknown, especially in the world of celebrities. Rod Stewart became a dad for the eighth time at 66, Mick Jagger at the age of 72, and Bernie Ecclestone became a father again at the age of 89 in July 2020. Men can produce sperm from puberty to a ripe old age and continue to father children as long as they do so.
Women, on the other hand, have a limited fertile window. Past 51 – the average age of menopause – they cease to release any eggs and become infertile. Both men and women are delaying having children. The average age of first-time mothers in the UK is nearly 29 and fathers 33.
The biological difference often lead to discussions of women’s biological clocks running out, while men are under the impression they’ll stay fertile for much longer. But the reality is much more complex than that. There is a growing body of research showing that men’s fertility is hugely affected by age.
[...] Men’s fertility doesn’t stop as abruptly as women’s. The testis can still produce the male hormone testosterone and sperm cells, enabling some men to father children in to their 90s.
However, this doesn’t mean men’s fertility is unaffected by age. One study showed after adjusting for female age, conception during a 12-month period was 30% less likely for men over the age of 40 compared with men younger than 30.
Although sperm is still being produced, the quality changes. The number of sperm produced, called the concentration or count, how well the sperm swim, known as their motility, and the shape of the sperm, called their morphology, are all known to change with age.
[...] Older fathers are also associated with negative effects on the child. Older men can accumulate damage and mutations in sperm DNA that may result in increased risks of unsuccessful or abnormal pregnancies, because of fertilisation with damaged sperm. The offspring of older fathers show high prevalence of genetic abnormalities, childhood cancers and several neuropsychiatric disorders such as autism, psychosis and bipolar disorders... (MORE - details)