Over at the Parents Via Egg Donation Organization blog they’ve posted Eliza Browning’s article “It’s Not Only About Women- Biological Clocks Tick for Men, Too“. Browning reports on a new French study that suggests that age plays an important factor in male fertility, just as it does for female fertility. The study, conducted at Eylau Center for Assisted Reproduction in Paris, included more than 21,000 men in their sample. The study concluded that
… men may become less fertile as they reach their late 30s. … a male’s fertility starts to decline as he enters his mid-30s and is significantly lower if he is over 40.But the study also found that if the father was in his late 30s, the chances of a successful pregnancy went down. Ten percent of treatments led to pregnancy in fathers over 40.
The father’s age also affected rates of miscarriage. If a father was over 34, the miscarriage rate was 16.7 percent. Between the ages of 35 and 39, it went up to 19.5 percent. And if the father was older than 44, it jumped to 32.4 percent — which means nearly one-third of the pregnancies ended in miscarriages.
Does this mean that men in their twenties and early thirties should start freezing their sperm if they wish to delay having children?
(Photo by Flickr user Herny Bahus)
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