What is the best age for men to become fathers according to science?

Men can be fathers at any age. This is the message that comes from the world of celebrities, where examples of parents of grandparents’ age abound.

This club parents 60+ includes Al Pacino, who became a father at 83; Robert de Niro (79); Mick Jagger (73); Steve Martin (67); Rod Stewart (66) and Julio Iglesias (62).

Advances in the field of assisted reproduction make it possible to postpone the birth of children. However, scientific studies warn of this children of elderly people They may be premature or suffer from certain illnesses.

The best age for men to become fathers according to science

In the case of women, there is a natural limit What is menopause? The Mayo Clinic, in the United States, describes it as “the time that marks the end of menstrual cycles and can occur between 40 and 50 years of age”.

During menopause it begins impairment of reproductive hormones. «As you approach 40, the ovaries begin to produce less estrogen and progesterone, the hormones that regulate menstruation, and fertility decreases», adds the prestigious body.

Examples of famous people they put man in a situation of presumed advantage. However, starting from the age of 40, sperm also begin to undergo various alterations in terms of quality, quantity and mobility.

Specialists warn that men should pay more attention to the age at which they decide to start a family and have children, because although they can conceive until old age, the risks to the fetus increase. Every year that the father changes can result in an increase of 1.51 new genetic mutations in the child.

In Europe, many men only have children when they turn 30 or older. Even many at 45, an age at which there is no a 14% chance of having a premature baby. Among people over 50, there is a 28% chance of having a baby who requires neonatal care, according to a Stanford University study published in the British Medical Journal and based on data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Disease Prevention and Prevention (CDC) and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) of the United States.

This is stated in an article on the academic website The Conversation the best age To have children, according to the biological clock, you must be under 35 for women and under 40 for men.

As indicated in the publication of scientists Charlotte Walker and Suzannah Williams of the University of Oxford, children of men over 45 years are at greater risk of suffering from schizophrenia and autism. And although in vitro fertilization (IVF) is an alternative, children born through this technique are also unsafe and can suffer from cardiovascular disease.