Thread: Mens fertility. Is the following myths or facts?

Ive read (On the intarWebZ) that:

In the mid 30s our sperm will be of worse quality? And our chanse to impregnate a woman is lowered by 50% as we enter the 40s.

Ive also read that the older you are when you have children, the bigger the chanse that your children will be less intelligent and have birth defects.

Im 26 atm and still have 3 years of education before i have a job. THEN i have to find "The one". So i managed to go from an entire life completely not caring about offspring to suddently panicking about wanting kids like... NOW!

I probably wont have kids before im 35`ish, then again - i read people are having children all the way up in their 60s.

So...

1) Is what i read above true or false?
2) Any links to informative reads on this issue?
3) Should i be panicking?

As far as I know, your sperm count will decrease as you age, but its not as serious as the increase of infertility in women, especially with in vitro and fertility treatments we have today. I wouldn't worry too much about it.

The biggest problem with age is that female fertility drops much faster than male fertility. And you're right about the higher rate of birth defects, and miscarriages too, for older women.

http://www.hfea.gov.uk/infertility.html

Thanks for the reply and link!

Cant believe how fast time is going. Ill have to hurry before i end up as the "old guy with the 20 year younger wife" everyone is pointing fingers at. j/k (Halfways anyway!)

Originally Posted by Raziell

Ill have to hurry before i end up as the "old guy with the 20 year younger wife" everyone is pointing fingers at. j/k (Halfways anyway!)

Hey, what's wrong about old guys with 20 year younger wives?

(but I do wish you luck finding your ONE much sooner)

Originally Posted by Leszek Luchowski

Originally Posted by Raziell

Ill have to hurry before i end up as the "old guy with the 20 year younger wife" everyone is pointing fingers at. j/k (Halfways anyway!)

Hey, what's wrong about old guys with 20 year younger wives?

(but I do wish you luck finding your ONE much sooner)

You two look good together! Personally i dont care about age that much really. Thanks for wishing me GL ill need it

I am surprised though if its true you get less smart children by mating late in life. Logic would imply the older you are - the smarter and wiser... why would this have the opposite effect on offspring *Puzzled*

I have no solid knowledge or links to back me up, but as far as I understand it, sperm remains healthy throughout our lives, barring some health issues, drugs, etc. I'm pretty sure the quality is also proportional to sexual frequency. Once someone goes beyond a few days without sexual activity, the sperm ends up being forcibly released. It gets stagnant. Regular sexual activity keeps the old stuff expelled so the new stuff remains a larger percentage in the prostate.

If a study looks at age without looking at sexual frequency, I wouldn't trust it.

There's more to male fertility than sperm health though. The prostate tends to become enlarged with age and this effects the male fertility.

It actually is standard practice to only compare those who have had sex at least once every 3 days for a year. Although, it is mostly female fertility that drops with age much quicker and usually presents the problem when its an issue of aging. Rather than an issue of disfunctional sperm, or scared tubes, or testicular problems.

The quality, quantity and motility of your sperm reduces are you age.
You really shouldn't worry about that though, barring abnormal circumstances, men never lose their fertility entirely. And a child's intelligence is greatly affected by many external factors like attention given, education, friends, family, etc.

Originally Posted by Raziell

You two look good together! Personally i dont care about age that much really.

Thank you! I just couldn't resist jumping in when you mentioned 20-year younger wives. Joanna was born exactly on the day when I turned twenty - try beating that for a birthday gift!

@Grover: Ok thanks for the answer i guess i shouldnt worry that much then. I just had this sudden panic the other day.

@Luchowski: Thats the kind of things that make you believe in fate

if your worrying about decreasing quality why dont you freeze some now?

Originally Posted by zendra

if your worrying about decreasing quality why dont you freeze some now?

How exactly is that done? I have a feeling im not supposed to just go to my doctor and ask "Hey can you put my sperm in your fridge?" :?

lol im not actually sure myself. Though depending on the clinic you might have to put in an annual payment

To freeze sperm requires a fertility clinic, of which there are many round the world. It costs $$$$ though.

Male sperm does get less potent with age. Not a problem if you begin your family by, say, 45 years of age. Female loss of fertility is more a problem with ageing. Lots of guys have healthy offspring to a good age. However, it is still true that the probability of defective children increases with old fathers.