Does the age of the father make any difference on the health of the child?

Question

I know the older a woman gets, the greater her chances of having a child with Down's syndrome.

Are there risks like that with older fathers?

Answer 1

A lot of these answers are far from the truth. After a man is 35, if his partner is also 35 he contributes to the risk of Down Syndrome. By age 40 a man is responsible for half of the risk for having a child with Down syndrome.
As far as other conditions associated with rising father's age there are many. Mental retardation, autism, up to 1/3 of all schizophrenia, diabetes1, MS, Alzheimer's risk, prostate cancer, maybe pre-menopausal breast cancer, ALL, etc. all rise, in non-familial cases, with the age of the father at a child's conception.

As men age especially by 33-35 sperm making cells, called spermatagonia, collect mutations as they are copied over and over and over and over again. Toxins add to the mutations.
To quote one research of the paternal age effect:
It makes sense that the mutations causing these diseases would occur more frequently in older men, and indeed that's what we saw for Apert syndrome," says Ethylin Jabs, M.D., director of the Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders at Johns Hopkins.

"Importantly, disorders linked to advancing paternal age begin to increase rapidly at about the same time as maternal risks increase -- age 33 to 35. Until now, the only evidence for paternal age effects has come from determining how many children with these diseases are born to fathers of various ages."

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/10/021018080014.htm

Answer 2

Absolutely. Some studies have shown that about a quarter of Downs Syndrome cases can be linked to the father, not mother. Usually this is the case of the father being over 50 (instead of over 35 for the mother) and is generally considered less of a connection than the mother's age, but it is a factor none the less. There are many issues related to the father's age that have yet to be determined as studies have mostly focused on mothers until recently.

Answer 3

Actually Downs is more closely linked with the age of the man. Although a man's sperm is "freshly made", each time new sperm is produced the same cells divide and re-divide. This means that as the man ages there is an accumulation of mutations and "copying errors" introduced into the DNA of the sperm, which means that genetic abnormalities such as Downs are more likely as the man gets older.

In contrast, a woman's eggs are already produced when she is born and are stored in her ovaries until released during her normal monthly cycle. This means that they have undergone no re-division and are less likely to carry genetic mutations from that cause.

Answer 4

One of the wonders of the human man is that while women can only mother a child until a certain age, a man can father a child until the day he dies of natural causes. There are some studies that have said certain birth defects, like downs syndrome and spinabifida can be linked with the age of the father, they can also be linked with enough other causes that there's really no conclusive evidence that says one way or the other.

Answer 5

Yes, the older the father is, the more likely he is to father a child with Down's. It is not as strong a correlation as it is with mother's age, but it's still there.

There is also some evidence that older fathers are more likely to father children with autism. Statistically, there is a correlation. However, it may be that men who are themselves slightly autistic are older when they have children then men who are not autistic. Even a mild case of autism can hinder a man in forming a romantic relationship, which would delay fatherhood for him. So while nonautistic men have their children in their 20s and 30s, mildly autistic men may have theirs in their 40s, 50s, and beyond, and they may pass those autistic traits on to their offspring.

Answer 6

Some studies have shown that older fathers are more likely to have children with birth defects, but the cutoff age for them is much higher, you don't see many problems till they are over 55.

Answer 7

No it doesn't make any difference. Look at all the old guys with baby's. One of John Wayne's son's played his son in a movie He was 70 something and his son was 12 or so.It only takes 1 sperm to fertilize an egg.

Answer 8

A woman's eggs are with her from birth so they age with her, but a man's sperm is renewed so it is not affected by age. When he ejaculates more sperm is created to make up for the loss.

Answer 9

unlike women who are born with a certain number of eggs which age as the woman ages, men's sperm is freshly made with each orgasm.

Answer 10

no