Daddy’s Biological Clock

Plan to start a family later in life?

Better start looking for a younger man. According to a new study reported in today’s Guardian, men should plan for fatherhood by forty.

• In the latest research, IVF experts studied the often neglected question of whether a man’s age affects the chances of a couple having children. They concluded 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.

• The researchers, from fertility clinics across France, examined rates of successful pregnancies in 1,938 couples from 59 clinics. The study showed that a woman younger than 30 was 25% less likely to conceive if her male partner was 40 or older than if he was of similar age. And if the woman was 35 to 37, she was twice as likely not to conceive as to have a successful pregnancy if her partner was 40 or older.

In my mind’s eye, I just saw the distinguished gentleman with a head full of salt and pepper hair falling from fashion forever.