A Man's Shelf Life: Best If Used By 35
By Mark Teich for Psychology Today, October 2007
Teich's Resource Persons:
By looking for perfection in your life before you conceive, there's a very real chance you'll have less perfect kids.
Not only does male fertility decrease decade by decade, especially after age 35, but aging sperm can be a significant and sometimes the only cause of severe health and developmental problems in offspring.
Men produce millions of sperm cells every time they ejaculate. After each ejaculation, they must literally replicate those cells, and each replication multiplies the chance for a DNA "copy error".
In humans as well as in other mammals, when there's new genetic change - called 'de novo or sporadic point mutation' - it almost always happens in the male parent. And these de novo mutations increase in frequency with the age of the male parent.
Several studies have shown that the older the man, the more fragmented the DNA in his ejaculated sperm, resulting in greater risk for infertility, miscarriage or birth defects.
Sperm DNA is damaged by even low levels of free radicals.
Sperm is incapable of repairing itself.
When both parents are aging, the risks to offspring multiply.
"If women are under age 35, the father's age may not matter that much, but if the mother is over 35, advanced male age can be a real problem." (Jabs)
If you're going to get a vasectomy, join the Army, or go through cancer therapy, "I'd advise you to freeze your sperm beforehand." (Muller)
Most men can steer a gentler course just by watching their health.
One key is testosterone, necessary for the maturation of sperm. Testosterone naturally starts to decline in the 30s, but also varies based on factors from weight to heart health.
"Whatever hurts your heart, hurts your penis." (Fisch)
If you want to father a child after age 40, get in the best shape of your life.
By Mark Teich for Psychology Today, October 2007
Teich's Resource Persons:
- James F. Crow, geneticist at University of Wisconsin in Madison
- Harry Fisch, urologist and director of the Male Reproductive Center at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City and author of The Male Biological Clock
- Ethylin Wang Jabs, professor of pediatric genetics at Johns Hopkins University and leader of a recent study showing the link between aging paternity and certain facial deformities in offspring.
- Dolores Malaspina, chair of psychiatry at New York University Medical Center
- Charles Muller, lab director of the Male Fertility Clinic at the University of Washington in Seattle
- Barbara Willet, of the Best Start childhood resource center in Ontario, Canada
By looking for perfection in your life before you conceive, there's a very real chance you'll have less perfect kids.
Not only does male fertility decrease decade by decade, especially after age 35, but aging sperm can be a significant and sometimes the only cause of severe health and developmental problems in offspring.
Men produce millions of sperm cells every time they ejaculate. After each ejaculation, they must literally replicate those cells, and each replication multiplies the chance for a DNA "copy error".
In humans as well as in other mammals, when there's new genetic change - called 'de novo or sporadic point mutation' - it almost always happens in the male parent. And these de novo mutations increase in frequency with the age of the male parent.
Several studies have shown that the older the man, the more fragmented the DNA in his ejaculated sperm, resulting in greater risk for infertility, miscarriage or birth defects.
Sperm DNA is damaged by even low levels of free radicals.
Sperm is incapable of repairing itself.
When both parents are aging, the risks to offspring multiply.
"If women are under age 35, the father's age may not matter that much, but if the mother is over 35, advanced male age can be a real problem." (Jabs)
If you're going to get a vasectomy, join the Army, or go through cancer therapy, "I'd advise you to freeze your sperm beforehand." (Muller)
Most men can steer a gentler course just by watching their health.
One key is testosterone, necessary for the maturation of sperm. Testosterone naturally starts to decline in the 30s, but also varies based on factors from weight to heart health.
"Whatever hurts your heart, hurts your penis." (Fisch)
If you want to father a child after age 40, get in the best shape of your life.
