Don’t delay if you want to become a father

Men in their early forties who wish to have children should not delay, experts have said.

Even leaving fatherhood to age 45 compared with 41 could influence a man’s ability to get a woman pregnant, according to a new study.

Experts at the Huntington Reproductive Medicine Centre in Brazil found that the chance of fathering a child fell by 7 per cent for every year above the age of 41.

Their analysis was based on 570 cycles of IVF treatment at the centre between March 2008 and April 2011.

Researchers controlled for the age of the women – a major factor in why pregnancies can fail – by looking at IVF cycles using donor eggs from healthy women aged 18 to 30. The results showed that a man’s age had “a significant impact” on the chances of conception.

For fathers aged about 41, the chance of achieving pregnancy in IVF was about 60 per cent. But this fell to about 35 per cent in the men aged around 45.

The researchers suggested the pregnancy rate might fall off at an even faster rate for men over 45. The sperm of older fathers was also more likely to look abnormal, which has been linked to fertility problems.

Men whose sperm appeared normal had a 22 per cent increased chance of conception, compared with those with less healthy-looking sperm.