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.
Although men never stop producing sperm throughout their lives, sperm production does begin decreasing after age 35. Motility, volume and genetic quality of sperm of older men are less likely to achieve a successful pregnancy even in younger women.
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.
However, the number and quality of the sperm declines with your age. From a biological standpoint, experts recommend a man is best suited to fatherhood from his late 20s to early 30s. It is still possible for men to father a child in their 50s and older.
Even with all the understandable talk of “windows of opportunity” and “biological clocks,” there are ways for women over 35 to make motherhood a reality. Infertility treatments can be difficult and expensive, but fertility specialists can talk with you about options. Age is less of a limitation than it used to be.
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.
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.
Am I too old? While certain risks may rise with age, men continue to produce sperm throughout their lives and can father healthy children into old age.
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.
Turns out, men have their own ages to be mindful of. “It's on a hockey stick shaped curve [of risks], just as it is with women, but with men the stick is a lot longer. The risks can start at 40 or maybe even 50 or 60 and then [risks] rapidly rise after 60,” says Dr. Paul Turek, a men's health and fertility urologist.
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.
Sperm Quality and Aging
Unlike females, males remain fertile into their 50s, 60s and even 70s. Though assessments of older men's sperm may fall within an acceptable range, we know that sperm quantity and sperm motility, or movement, may decline with age and contribute to age related male infertility.
While it's true men continue to produce sperm into old age, it doesn't mean they'll be fertile at 50. And just as a woman's chances of getting pregnant start to decline in her mid-30s, so does a man's fertility. So if you're a guy in the 40 and over club and you're thinking of more offspring, pay attention.
Some studies suggest that moderate ejaculation (2–4 times per week) is associated with a lower prostate cancer risk. However, ejaculating more often doesn't mean your cancer risk drops even more.
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.
The body breaks down unused sperm, which does not build up to trigger further problems. Over time, not ejaculating can trigger psychological problems. For example, people with sexual dysfunctions that affect their ability to ejaculate may experience distress or embarrassment. It can also lead to relationship problems.
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.
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.
The website of the world record authority Guinness World Records lists the oldest father ever as Australian Les Colley (1898-1998), who allegedly fathered his ninth child at age 92 with a Fijian woman he met through a dating agency.
While the majority of children are born to fathers between the ages of 20 and 34, becoming a later-in-life dad is a distinct trend. Current research indicates that since 1980, birth rates have increased 40 percent for men ages 35 to 49.
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. George Lucas, Steve Martin and Rod Stewart all famously fathered children in their late 60s.
The average couple trying to conceive takes about five months to become pregnant if the father is under 40. On the other side of 40, it takes around two years. Then, of course, it takes longer still if he's over 45. However, there is no black-and-white cut-off point when men can no longer father a child.
Not optimal, but not selfish either
The point here is to look at some of the things which people say are selfish and realize that, while it may not be the “optimal conceiving time” there are plenty of reasons to have a child over forty and those reasons are not by definition selfish.
While a 92-year-old woman delivering a 60-year-old baby may sound like a bizarre plot twist from the movie “Benjamin Button,” it's true. Huang Yijun, 92, of southern China, recently delivered a child which she'd been carrying for well over half a century. The baby wasn't alive, however.
One study estimated a woman can have around 15 pregnancies in a lifetime. And depending on how many babies she births for each pregnancy, she'd probably have around 15-30 children. But the "most prolific mother ever," according to Guinness World Records, was Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev in 19th century Russia.