Male fertility ‘decreases after 40’

MEN should plan on being a parent before their 40th birthday, new research reveals.

Unlike women, most men are not even aware that their biological clock is ticking away. Now French fertility experts are warning that while the age of 35 should be considered the “amber light” in a woman’s reproductive life, men reach a similar milestone at 40.

Their examination of 1,938 couples from 59 clinics found that a woman under 30 years is 25% less likely to conceive if her partner is 40 or older.

And if the woman is aged between 35 and 37, she is twice as likely to fail to conceive if her partner is 40 or older.

The research, published in the latest issue of the highly respected international journal, Fertility and Sterility, adds weight to a growing body of evidence that male fertility decreases with age.

A poll published in a British newspaper yesterday found that while most people understood the importance of a woman’s age in achieving a successful pregnancy, more than half were delaying starting a family because of career pressures and the cost of having a child.

Of the 1,006 adults interviewed, 63% said career pressures were making it harder to have children and 54% said the cost was a deterrent.

A recent report in the British Medical Journal said women who delayed motherhood were being “lulled into infertility” by believing they could turn to reproductive technology.

Consultant gynaecologist and obstetrician Dr David Walsh, a medical partner at the SIMS fertility clinic in Dublin, said previous studies had shown failure to conceive was linked with male ageing.

But while age was a factor, it was less pronounced in men than in women and usually only became apparent after extensive treatment.

Dr Walsh also pointed out that the latest British poll mirrored what was happening in Ireland. More Irish couples were experiencing fertility problems as a result of putting off having a family because of the high cost of housing and childcare.

“Fertility clinics around the country are extremely busy and that is the reason why,” he said.