(Also) Male fertility decreases with age

Mal common…half joy! We all know by now that we women are numbered when it comes to fertility . A biological clock from which we cannot escape. However, many studies report that male fertility also suffers a decline.

However, the situation remains very different as males can be fertile even in old age and therefore their “decline” is not as evident as for us women. However, the decline still exists and is something that men should keep in mind when deciding to plan a family.

Age problems in males are reflected in the quantity and quality of sperm a man can generate. The older you get, the less sperm you produce.

Research has calculated that for a 50-year-old man compared to a 30-year-old man:

• has 3% to 22% less ejaculate volume
• sperm concentration in semen decreases by 37%
• sperm motility decreases from 4% to 18%.

All of this can make finding a baby difficult.

Men who decide to have a child late in life may also have children with an increased risk of genetic defects. As their cells age they are able to accumulate DNA damage. If the mutations affect spermatogenesis, they will have a negative impact on the sperm produced and consequently on the conceived embryos.

Several studies have shown that over the years men   can pass on new mutations to their offspring . Researchers even suggest that older men may pass more mutations than women.

Older paternal age has also been associated with an increased likelihood of offspring developing neuro-cognitive disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. One study found that men over 40 were 5.75 times more likely to have children diagnosed with autism than men under 30. Another survey found that fathers over 45 were twice as likely as fathers in their twenties to have children with schizophrenia. Other disorders such as childhood cancers, leukemia, bipolar disorder, and a variety of congenital disorders have been linked to an increase in paternal age. While these are just correlations, the evidence supports the hypothesis discussed earlier and that is thatolder men have more genetic defects in their sperm than younger men and therefore would be more likely to have children with genetic disorders.

However, unlike in female fertility, there does not appear to be a clear age limit at which decline in reproductive capacity occurs. In general, it is difficult to study the effects of aging on male fertility due to other factors that may influence the results, such as the mother’s age, genetic predisposition and external environment.

Of course, further study is always needed, but all of this   information  can be useful to family planners so that they can consider not waiting too long to have children.