Tom Steele Writes About His Unfortunate Cousin Who Had a Father Over 40

Saturday, August 09, 2008

MY TWO UNCLES: THE MALE BIOLOGICAL CLOCK
"Moses was one hundred twenty years old when he died; his sight was unimpaired and his vigor had not abated"* (Deuteronomy 34:7).Women know that they have a biological clock. By the time they are in their 30's the bio ticking gets louder and louder. There is a lot of psychology connected with the feminine biological clock.But, is there a male biological clock? Yes, but what guy is checking the time? Guys assume that they will always make sperm so, what is the hurry? What is important for guys to know is that, from a fertility and health perspective, having children is for the young. The biological material is just better. After 35 deterioration is beginning to set in. Men 40 and over are nearly 6 times more likely to have offspring with autism than men younger than 30.** By age 60, 85% of sperm is clinically abnormal. Increased age in the father increases the risk of schizophrenia in the children.I have 2 uncles in my family history, one on my dad's side and one on my mother's side. Both of these uncles did not marry until they were 40 years old. One uncle fathered 4 children who grew up to be responsible, well-functioning adults. The other uncle fathered 3 children, 2 of them grew up to be good citizens, Christians and parents. The oldest child of the second uncle developed normally. He was a good student and was dedicated as a Christian too. During his college years he developed schizophrenia. This mental illness led to his tragic death and was the cause of a great deal of anguish for the family too.Would this have happened had my second uncle fathered children earlier in life? We cannot know for sure, but if there is a question about the timing of having children, put the odds in your favor and do it sooner rather than later.Grace&Peace,Tom*James Michener said in "The Source" that the verse meant that Moses was good in bed at 120 years old. I doubt that he took any supplements either, but then all his food was organic.**Statistics came from an article in "Psychology Today" called "A Man's Shelf Life," by Mark Teich. I had read similar statistics in other publications on this subject so it seemed like they were credible.
Posted by Tom at 8:05 PM

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