Men's biological clock keeps ticking too

A man's fertility also appears to decline after the age of 40, in the same way that a woman's ability to conceive reduces after 35 years. Researchers from the French national health institute INSERM conducted a study of nearly 2,000 couples undergoing fertility treatment. They found that pregnancy attempts were 70 percent more likely to fail when the man was 40 years or older than those who were younger than 30 - regardless of their wife's age. All women in the study were completely infertile and undergoing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), with bilateral tubal obstruction or absence of both tubes. While past studies have suggested that older men are less likely to father children, the extent whether this was related to biological changes or decrease in sexual activity has been unclear. According to the researchers, the lower IVF success rate among relatively older men may be due to poor quality sperm. It has long been known that women are less likely to conceive after the age of 35. But the current findings, suggest that for men, the age of 40 is similarly important. As an increasing number of couples choose to postpone childbearing, they should be informed that paternal age over 40 years is an important risk factor for failure to conceive. Thus in reproduction, age must no longer be considered as the concern of the woman, but as that of the couple.