Oldest fathers: medical considerations 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.
In this Article. There's no maximum age that stops a man from being able to have a baby.
The world's oldest father is believed to be Mr Ramajit Raghav, who was 94 years old when he fathered his first child in 2010. He and his then 52-year-old wife Shakuntala Devi had another son two years later. The farmer is from Kharkhoda village, located near New Delhi in India.
92-Year-Old Fathers Welcome New Baby
However, the Guinness World Record indicates that the world's oldest confirmed father was 92 years old. This man was reportedly Les Colley, who lived from 1898 to 1998 in Australia. He welcomed his ninth child alongside his third wife when he was 92 years and 10 months old.
But what happened after she was labelled 'Australia's youngest mum'? Six years on, here's what happened to the now-21-year-old from Melbourne.
A Tasmanian woman has reportedly become a mother at the age of 62, making her the oldest woman to give birth in Australia. Channel Seven reported that the baby girl is the first child for the unidentified woman and her 78-year-old partner.
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.
John Zhang of the New Hope Fertility Center made headlines by announcing that a 49-year-old patient at his clinic had given birth to a baby conceived with her own egg, frozen when she was 48. Dr. Zhang's patient is now the oldest woman ever to have a biological child through in-vitro fertilization.
The man who is thought to have fathered the most children of all time is Moroccan Sultan Ismail Ibn Sharif (1645 to 1727) with a total of more than 1,000, according to Guinness World Records.
A Russian woman named Valentina Vassilyeva and her husband Feodor Vassilyev are alleged to hold the record for the most children a couple has produced. She gave birth to a total of 69 children – sixteen pairs of twins, seven sets of triplets and four sets of quadruplets – between 1725 and 1765, a total of 27 births.
According to research, a woman can have somewhere around 15 to 30 babies in her lifetime.
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.
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. According to Guinness World Records, the oldest man to father a child was 92 years old at the time of the birth.
Paternal age appears to have a significant impact on a child's health and development. The quality of semen decreases with aging, resulting in DNA copy mutations. Similarly, a decrease in the volume of semen, can lead to problems with conception.
We've all heard about men in their 80s and 90s fathering children, but this is rare. A father's age also affects the chance of a couple getting pregnant. It takes longer for partners of men older than 40 years to conceive.
There is very limited data about men in extreme old age (80 yr and older). Of older men who produce spermatozoa in their ejaculates, sperm motility, a manifestation of viability and fertilizing capacity, tends to be reduced. The ability of men to impregnate their wives gradually reduces from age 25 onward.
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.
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.
This means that a man with many brothers is more likely to have sons, while a man with many sisters is more likely to have daughters.
“The ability to father a child declines as men get older,” he said. “Semen quality diminishes — volume lessens with age and the motility and shape of sperm decline a little.” Such changes reduce the ability of a man's sperm to fertilize an egg.
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.
Xinju Tian, who was 67 years old when she gave birth in 2023, set a new record for the oldest woman to give birth naturally. In late October 2019, it was reported that 67-year-old Xinju Tian had given birth to a healthy baby girl, making international headlines.
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.