While certain risks may rise with age, men continue to produce sperm throughout their lives and can father healthy children into old age.
There are plenty of men who, after the age of 50, have had healthy children. Until a link between paternal age and disorders is established, I wouldn't advise patients not to have children over 50 simply because of age.
A 2019 study determined that a father's age has a significant impact on a child's health and development. The study found that babies born to older fathers had an increased risk of cleft lip or palate, heart defects, autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
It is still possible for men to father a child in their 50s and older. According to Guinness World Records, the oldest man to father a child was 92 years old at the time of the birth. Still, researchers have found that a man's age can affect a couple's chances of becoming pregnant.
While some men can become fathers later in life, sperm quality declines with age — and partners of men aged 45 years or older take longer to fall pregnant and have a higher risk of miscarriage. And, although still rare, autism and other developmental conditions are slightly more common in children with older fathers.
On the other hand, old fathers (≥ 40 years) could increase risks of cardiovascular abnormalities, facial deformities, urogenital abnormalities, and chromosome disorders in their offspring.
Male Fertility Facts
Peak male fertility is around 25-29 years old. Sperm quality begins to decline at 30. At 45, men begin to experience a significant decrease in semen volume. Older men can also take longer to conceive a child.
There's no maximum age that stops a man from being able to have a baby. You can become a father long into your older years, but there are risks.
Getting Pregnant After 50
While it's not impossible to become pregnant naturally at 50, it is very rare. Women are born with all of the eggs they will ever have. As you get older, you have fewer eggs, and they are more likely to have abnormalities. Most women who get pregnant after 50 use donor eggs.
Men over the age of 35–40 typically experience a decrease in sperm health, which affects: Pregnancy rates. Pregnancy rates decrease with paternal age. Men will generally see a 52% decrease in fertility rate between their early 30s and their mid-to-late 30s.
We would argue it is certainly not too old to become a father. Although having said that there are some health issues to consider. Complications do occur from time to time, but they are not the rule and they are not strictly confined to men over 50.
Male fertility generally starts to reduce around age 40 to 45 years when sperm quality decreases. Increasing male age reduces the overall chances of pregnancy and increases time to pregnancy (the number of menstrual cycles it takes to become pregnant) and the risk of miscarriage and fetal death.
The rate of Down syndrome for both maternal and paternal age greater than 40 years is approximately 60 per 10,000 births, which is a six-fold increase compared with maternal and paternal ages less than 35 years of age. In this age group, the paternal contribution to Down syndrome was 50 percent.
The scientists also note that at the age of 35, the proportion of sperm carrying an X chromosome also seems to increase, meaning older dads are more likely to have daughters. In human reproduction, the Y chromosome is responsible for making a male child.
About 9 percent of all newborns in the United States now have dads older than 40, and almost 1 percent have dads over the age of 50.
According to the Guiness Book of Records the oldest man to father a baby was Les Colley who in 1998 had his ninth child, a boy named Oswald, at the age of 92 years and 10 months. But various news sites credit Ramjit Raghav as the oldest man to father a child.
You've seen the headlines. It seems like every year a celebrity Baby Boomer is fathering a child. Whether it was Billy Joel at age 66, Mick Jagger at 73, or George Lucas summoning the force at age 69, senior studs are still procreating.
By age 30, fertility (the ability to get pregnant) starts to decline. This decline happens faster once you reach your mid-30s. By 45, fertility has declined so much that getting pregnant naturally is unlikely.
Susie and Tony Troxler became first-time parents at 50 and 61. They say their daughter Lily is the poster child for hope. Their fertility journey is inspiring people everywhere. Susie and Tony Troxler became first-time parents at 50 and 61.
Although a man's fertility can theoretically last until death, sperm production has been found to decline from around the age of 50. Although it is still possible to conceive a child, and many men do have children in their 50s or later, it may take longer for you and your partner to become pregnant.
While fewer than 1 percent of first-time fathers are over 50, there are benefits to being a later-in-life father. Dr Paul Turek, a men's health and fertility urologist, says that men who have children at an older age tend to live longer. As an added bonus, their children tend to live longer as well.
Of the roughly 4 million births each year in the U.S., about 9 percent of fathers are over 40. And "about 40,000 newborns have a father over the age of 50," says Michael Eisenberg, an assistant professor of urology at Stanford University Medical Center and the senior author of the study.
A trained expert checks your sperm count, their shape, movement, and other characteristics. In general, if you have a higher number of normal-shaped sperm, it means you have higher fertility. But there are plenty of exceptions to this. A lot of guys with low sperm counts or abnormal semen are still fertile.
However, recent studies have suggested that a father's age at the time of conception might affect the health of his children. Some studies have shown that for men over 40, there is an increased risk for miscarriage, rare birth defects, autism, schizophrenia and some types of cancer such as leukaemia.