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Topic: Concerns of older fathers
| Author | Message |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 3/8/2007 12:52:09 PM | show profile Hi, all. I am writing a story about male biological clocks -- new research that shows the chances for a baby being born with physical defects may rise if the father is older. I am looking for someone to talk to on this topic. Perhaps a man who married late and decided with his wife to have a baby more quickly because of this concern. The extra slant isn't important. I am just looking for a man who took "the male biological clock" into consideration in some way. |
| Metro Writer | Posted – 3/8/2007 8:23:10 PM | show profile I'm answering for my husband. We were both well into our 40s when we got married. It was my age that forced us to go to a fertility clinic. We never heard about a baby's chances of being born with a physical defect, and we've been to three fertility clinics and have met many fertility doctors and patients. Since this issue never came up, I can only think it's a new or obscure finding and one that isn't commonly accepted by fertility specialists. I've learned that older men may have lower sperm motility and bad morphology. Also, because of environmental factors, men in general are having lower sperm counts. That said, there is extensive genetic testing and PGD (pre genetic determination) to see if the eggs are bad (i.e., certain diseases). Instead of amnio, they do a nuclar test at 12 weeks to see if the baby is at risk for Down's syndrome. At 20-21 weeks, they do an extensive anatomical ultrasound and can see amazingly clear photos of the heart, lungs, diaphram, kidneys, face, and extremities. Hope this helps. |
| dribbledrive1 | Posted – 3/23/2007 1:08:24 PM | show profile Thanks, Metro Writer. Would it be OK if I email you off the board? |
| Metro Writer | Posted – 3/24/2007 5:52:09 PM | show profile | email poster Sure. Just put Media Bistro Board in the subject line so I know it's not spam. |
