Following the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) Annual Meeting in Vienna last week, we are focussed on an abstract that researched paternal age.
You’d be forgiven for thinking that men don’t have to think about anything so tedious as a biological clock. A glance at any magazine rack displays ageing old male rock stars and actors showing off their new offspring.
For instance Rolling Stone, Ronnie Wood was gifted with twin girls at the age of 68, his wife is 37. Not to be outdone, Rod Stewart had his eighth child at 66. On the list of ageing actors there was Jeff Goldblum a dad at 62, George Lucas a dad at 69, Steve Martin a dad at 67 and Robert De Niro a dad at 68.
New research suggests that a paternal age over 51 years reduces success rates in IVF
An analysis of almost 5000 IVF/ICSI cycles was presented ESHRE last week. The cycles were performed at a single centre in London. This research showed that pregnancy success rates declines SIGNIFICANTLY after a paternal age of 51 years. The investigators suggest that this warrants a need for a public health message for men to not delay fatherhood.
The study showed that clinical pregnancy rates were 49.9% in the males under 35 group, these declined to just 30.5% in the males over 51 group.
Dr. Guy Morris, Lead Researcher said, ‘There may well be a public perception that male fertility is independent of age. Stories of celebrity men fathering children into their 60s may give a skewed perspective on the potential risks of delaying fatherhood!”
He cautioned against this myth, “In the context of this emerging evidence for the deleterious effect of increasing paternal age, our data certainly support the importance of educating men about their fertility and the risks of delaying fatherhood.”
If you want to be a dad, don’t delay
In countries where fertility treatment is reimbursed by national health services, there may now be increasing pressure to apply an upper limit on the age of potential fathers involved in IVF programmes.
In the UK there is currently no cut-off age for men to access IVF. Guidelines recommend that women should not be offered fertility treatment after the age of 42.
This might change in future, with age limits applied to men as the results of studies like this are considered. The message to men is therefore clear, get your skates on!
