Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are among a group of celebrities in the old dads’ club, having both had children at the ages of 83 and 79, respectively.
Now, an octogenarian who is considering doing the same has asked about the health implications of having a child later in life.
Seeking advice anonymously, the 80-year-old wrote to Dr. Keith Roach, who runs a weekly health-focused column, The Oregonian.
He explained that he is “reasonably healthy” for his age, but that he is “concerned about any potential problems with my old genes and any birth defects that may be caused by them.”
He notes that his partner, who is of childbearing age (usually considered to be between 15 and 45 years old), wants them to have a child, but they wanted to get a medical opinion before proceeding.
In his response, Dr. Roach says he frequently gets this question from his patients, “but usually when they are between 60 and 70 years old (and) 80 is a pretty old age to consider having a child.”
First of all, the doctor, who works at Weill Cornell Medical College and New York Presbyterian Hospital, highlights that not only women have a biological clock: fertility rates also decrease as men age and the risks increase. .
Studies have shown that conception is 30 percent less likely for men over 40, and the risk of genetic mutations is higher, with conditions such as Down syndrome, autism and childhood cancer more prevalent among children of older parents.
A 2000 study found that conception is 30 percent less likely for men over 40 than for men under 30.
Dr. Leen Alhafez and Dr. Heather Fisher, both fertility experts at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Texas, say there are several reasons for declining fertility, including that “semen volume, total sperm count and sperm motility (how well the sperm can move toward the egg) all decrease as men age.’
Factors that contribute to these age-related changes range from shrinking or softening of the testicles to decreased levels of the male sex hormone testosterone.
A 2001 study revealed that men over 60 had 20 percent lower testosterone levels, men over 70 had 33 percent lower testosterone levels, and men over 80 had lower testosterone levels. 50 percent lower.
Dr. Roach said in his column that a difference in a man’s fertility is “apparent by age 35,” but for potential fathers in their 80s, there is not enough data or extensive research.
Next, it says, if the reader and their partner can successfully conceive, there is an “increased risk of harmful genetic conditions and birth defects that are more likely in children who have older parents.”
Dr. Alhafez and Dr. Fisher explain that while a woman is born with “all the eggs she will ever have,” a man “is constantly producing new sperm that divide and replicate approximately every 16 days.”
By age 20, they observe that a man’s sperm have gone through about 150 divisions and this number could increase to 800 by the time he is 50 years old.
Due to these divisions, there is an increased risk of suffering from various genetic mutations.
Dr. Roach says some of the conditions associated with advanced paternal age include Down syndrome, epilepsy, schizophrenia, autism spectrum disorders and some heart diseases.
Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are among a group of celebrities in the old dads’ club, having both had children at the ages of 83 and 79 respectively.
Research has also shown a connection between advanced paternal age and several childhood cancers, such as leukemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma.
However, Dr. Alhafez and Dr. Fisher note that “these diseases are multifactorial, meaning they are caused by a complex combination of genetic and nongenetic factors, including environmental and lifestyle factors.”
Genetic conditions aside, all doctors point to research that has shown that babies born to men over 45 are more likely to have low birth weight, be born prematurely, and require care in the neonatal intensive care unit.
However, Dr. Roach says that “the magnitude of the effect is modest.”
And he adds: ‘On average, 1 in 50 pregnancies with a father under 30 years of age will have one of the common health conditions studied in couples. For children whose father is over 50, the rate is 1 in 38.’
Another question Dr. Roach asks the reader to consider is whether you will be there to see your child grow up and be there as a father.
To put things into perspective, he writes: ‘The average 80-year-old man has a life expectancy of just under eight years.
‘If you are substantially healthier than average, or if your parents lived a long time, this figure might be a little better.
“But the average 80-year-old (assuming your partner has the child while you are still 80) is not likely to see their child turn 10. The premature death of a parent has a negative impact on physical and mental health of a child.’
Taking all these factors into account, the doctor concludes that there are “significant risks” for the octogenarian to bring a child into the world.