Are IVF delivery rates affected by the age of the male partner?

independent.co.uk

"Men, unlike women, do not have a menopause or a predictable and detectable decline in their fertility. Female age is thus the dominant factor in predicting (or explaining) a couple's chance of conception, whether natural or assisted.

A few studies have found that the chance of natural conception can be affected by the age of the male partner, particularly in the genetic health of sperm cells, but the celebrity examples of Charlie Chaplin or Luciano Pavarotti have kept alive the notion that male fertility goes on forever.

Now, a new study from the USA in IVF couples shows quite clearly that live birth outcome is clearly affected by the age of the male partner and that in certain younger female age groups, where the effect of age is less potent, the chances of live birth can be appreciably reduced by the man's increasing age. 

"Our study found an independent effect of male age on the cumulative incidence of live birth," said investigator Dr Laura Dodge from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Dr Dodge will present the study's results on Tuesday at the 33rd Annual Meeting of ESHRE in Geneva..." - Learn More