When people are thinking about having children later in life, the heavy emphasis is usually on women’s fertility and their so called “biological clock”.
However, due to new research, it’s been revealed that men who delay having kids are as much at risk of fertility problems, and it can even pose a problem to the child’s health. A new study reviewed 40 years of research looking at pregnancies involving older men and noted a higher risk of premature birth, stillbirth, low birth weight, newborn seizures, and birth defects, such as congenital heart disease and cleft palate. As these children got older, they also had a higher risk of childhood cancers, mental health problems, cognitive disorders, and autism. This could occur because when cells divide (and the more they divide) there is a chance that they will mutate, and your sperm stem cells divide around 23 times a year after the onset of puberty. More time, means more divisions, which means more chance of a DNA mutation.
There’s no real definition of when advanced paternal age begins, but its generally accepted that it’s between 35 and 45.
“While it is widely accepted that physiological changes that occur in women after 35 can affect conception, pregnancy and the health of the child, most men do not realise their advanced age can have a similar impact,” said study author Gloria Bachmann.
Despite this, it seems that the number of older fathers are on the rise, as it’s been reported that the number of fathers over the age of 45 has risen by 10% in the US over the past 40 years.
