Unlike women, who are born with a finite number of eggs, men continue to produce sperm throughout their life, and some can father children into their 60s and beyond — an age where women's clocks have totally stopped ticking.
In short, yes (Harris 2019, NICE 2013). Although most men are able to have children well into their 50s and beyond, it becomes gradually more difficult after the age of 40 . There are many reasons for this, including: Sperm quality tends to decrease with age.
Age and sperm
Men younger than 40 have a better chance of fathering a child than those older than 40. The quality of the sperm men produce seems to decline as they get older. Most men make millions of new sperm every day, but men older than 40 have fewer healthy sperm than younger men.
These babies born to older fathers had increased birth risks such as seizures, low birth weight and need for ventilation immediately after birth. And “advanced paternal age” is not as old as you may think. Men older than 35 are considered to be of advanced paternal age.
Men's age and fertility
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.
Dr. Fisch and his colleagues found that the rate of Down syndrome steadily increased with advancing paternal age for the maternal age group of 35 to 39 years. The greatest increase, however, was seen in the maternal age group of 40 years and older with increasing paternal age.
While certain risks may rise with age, men continue to produce sperm throughout their lives and can father healthy children into old age.
There's no expiration date on when guys can father a child. Case in point: Rocker Mick Jagger just had his eighth child at the age of 73. Since men don't hit menopause—the time in a woman's life where her fertility ends—they can typically continue to father children into their later years.
Australian dads are among the oldest in the world, and we're not getting any younger. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics' data on registered births in 2020, the median age of fathers is 33.6 years, rising from 28.5 years in 1975, when data was first collated.
Data from more than 40 million births showed that babies born to fathers of an “advanced paternal age,” which roughly equates to older than 35, were at a higher risk for adverse birth outcomes, such as low birth weight, seizures and need for ventilation immediately after birth.
Previous studies have repeatedly found that one of the reliable predictors of the sex of the offspring is the age of the parent. Older parents are significantly more likely to have daughters than younger parents.
Absolutely. So my advice for other would-be, could-be or soon-to-be fathers is as follows….. Regardless of your age, if you and your partner both feel ready (or almost ready) then don't wait.
Causes of male infertility
These may include: Abnormal sperm production or function due to undescended testicles, genetic defects, health problems such as diabetes, or infections such as chlamydia, gonorrhea, mumps or HIV. Enlarged veins in the testes (varicocele) also can affect the quality of sperm.
The most common issues that lead to infertility in men are problems that affect how the testicles work. Other problems are hormone imbalances or blockages or absence of some of the ducts in the male reproductive organs. Lifestyle factors and age-related factors also play a role in male infertility.
Older women are more likely to have a baby with a chromosome disorder such as Down syndrome. If you are age 25, the chance of Down syndrome is about 1 in 1,250. If you are age 35, the risk increases to 1 in 400. By age 45, it is 1 in 30.
Both men and women can pass the genetic translocation for Down syndrome on to their children. Having had one child with Down syndrome. Parents who have one child with Down syndrome and parents who have a translocation themselves are at an increased risk of having another child with Down syndrome.
As the father grows older, the number of mutations in the father's genome increases, leading to an increase in the incidence of congenital malformations in offspring [11, 65]. Older paternal age may be harmful to the offspring's health in terms of genetic mutations, telomere length, and epigenetics [66].
Research has found that older parents tend to be more positive in their parenting roles. 4 That positive parenting attitude may translate into kids that grow up to have fewer behavioral, social or emotional difficulties.
Having babies after 35 is safe
One of the biggest fears around pregnancy after 35 is the increased risk for complications during pregnancy or genetic disorders and other conditions that could affect the baby. But science shows that many healthy parents over 35 have healthy babies.
They found that the most fertile months for conceiving a boy were from September to November, while the lowest fertile period was from March to May.
At the cellular level, women's brains look four to five years younger than men's, Dubal said. Many biological markers indicate faster aging in almost all of the tissues in male bodies, Kerr said. Women get heart disease later.
All men inherit a Y chromosome from their father, which means all traits that are only found on the Y chromosome come from dad, not mom. The Supporting Evidence: Y-linked traits follow a clear paternal lineage.
Although women desire children less as time goes on, men want more progeny as they age and begin building families. “How frequently women have the desire to have a child goes down with age, and down as they actually have children,” Gary Brase, Ph. D., a psychologist at Kansas State University, told Live Science.