Men Have a Biological Clock too.

Men Have a Biological Clock too.
By Sue Leonard.
Published by The Irish Examiner ‘Feelgood,’ 18th July 2008.

We all know that women have a biological clock. And that its ticking becomes louder the older that she gets. But did you know that men have a biological clock too?

A new French study has found that the chance of a successful pregnancy recedes when a man is over 35; and falls significantly when he is over 40.

French researchers at the Eylau Centre for Assisted Reproduction conducted a study of over 12,000 couples undergoing Intrauterine Insemination- IUI. They examined the man’s sperm, checking its quantity, motility and its size and shape. Then they recorded the couple’s rates of pregnancy, miscarriage and birth.

The team found that where the father was in his late 30’s, the rate of miscarriage increased. And if the man was over 40 the chances of a successful pregnancy were even lower.

Presenting the research, Dr Stephanie Belloc told a conference in Barcelona that such couples should be offered ICSI. (Where a sperm is injected directly into an egg.)

Dr Edgar Mocanu of HARI; the infertility clinic attached to the Rotunda Hospital, sees an increasing number of males coming forward for ICSI.
“What was perceived as a female problem is now recognised more as a couple issue,” he said. “And thus the investigation and treatment of the male has now a recognised place in the practise of infertility.”

Dr David Walsh of the SIMS clinic, whilst always aware that infertility is a ‘couple’ issue,’ is surprised by the degree of the problem as highlighted by the research.
“We knew that age matters, and that under 35 is a better time to have a baby, but with men, the talk was always of the risks for much older men; those in their fifties and sixties.

“There was, for example, an increased risk of achondroplasia (dwarfism), in their children. We now see that in men beyond 35 there is an increase in quite a lot of abnormalities; in things like autism, schizophrenia and cleft lip.