IN modern society There is such a thing as fertility. For a long time it was believed that only in women, age significantly affects the possibility of conception, but this is not true. Representatives of the strong half of humanity also run the risk of not having offspring if they delay it for too long. reproductive age men, according to modern research, continues to decrease, which means that those who are already over 51 years old have a lot of work to have a baby.
When is the best time to have a baby?
The optimal age for conception is 25 years. It is believed that at this time sperm are most active, the volume of seminal fluid is optimal, and testosterone production is at its maximum. Representatives of the strong half of humanity over 30 years old experience a gradual decrease in sexual activity, and the chances of having a healthy baby are much less.
History knows cases when children appeared in men both at 50 and at 70 years old. However, these are unique situations that almost never occur today. The reproductive age of a man is constantly decreasing and the risk of a baby developing such pathologies as:
- Reduced immunity.
- Schizophrenia.
- Down Syndrome.
- Increased susceptibility to genetic diseases.
Doctors consider 25 years as the best age for conception.
Despite the statistics, men aged 30 to 45 have a more active sex life. This is due to the fact that the older a person becomes, the stronger his desire to do everything and to fulfill himself as much as possible increases. This also affects his sexual ambitions. However, scientists say that it is better to conceive children before the age of 35, but this figure is approximate. If a man is older than 45 years, then fertility decreases by 50%. The most significant deterioration in reproductive function begins at age 60.
The effect of age on reproductive function
Unlike women, the effect of age on fertility in men is not well understood. In the course of observing couples seeking to have children, it was found that the older the man, the higher the risk of a miscarriage in a woman, no matter how old she is. In addition, the chances of having a child are significantly reduced if a representative of the strong half of humanity has crossed the 45-year mark. This is due to the fact that the older the person, the more critically damaged DNA is noted in him, which leads to termination of pregnancy.
The deterioration of reproductive function, which the male sex is famous for, is due to the fact that over time there is a decrease in testosterone production and a decrease in sperm motility.
In addition, psycho-emotional stress, bad habits, and malnutrition begin to actively affect sexual activity. These factors negatively affect the genetic qualities of spermatozoa, so a woman can become pregnant only after a thorough examination and treatment of a man, especially if he is over 45.
It is believed that the most the best quality ejaculate is noted in the period from 20 to 35 years. At this time, spermatozoa are as mobile as possible and the volume of seminal fluid also corresponds to the norm. In this regard, the probability of conception and the birth of healthy children is much greater than at 45 years and older.
How to prolong fertility?
In order for a young man to be able to maintain his sexual activity and fertility as long as possible, as well as to maintain the high quality of genetic material, the following rules must be followed:
- Protected and regular contacts.
- Permanent sexual partner.
- Compliance with the rules of personal hygiene.
- Regular physical activity.
- Proper nutrition.
- Regular examination and, if necessary, timely therapy.
In addition, you should not forget about the right underwear and the use of gentle intimate hygiene products. Many representatives of the strong half of humanity prefer to wear boxing briefs that increase body temperature in the scrotum and squeeze the genitals. This negatively affects reproductive function. In addition, antibacterial soap should not be used frequently. It leads to the destruction of the natural flora of the urethra.
Until the age of 35, a man has an increased ability to conceive.
Regular exercise stress improves blood circulation in the pelvic area and genital organs, which significantly improves fertility and prolongs the reproductive period. Having a regular sexual partner can minimize the risk of developing sexually transmitted diseases, which is also important for everyone. young man wishing to have healthy offspring.
Thus, with the right lifestyle and careful attention to health, the reproductive age in men can be extended to 50 years and above. However, the most favorable time for conception is the time period from 25 to 30 years. It is at this age that the least likely that the pregnancy will be terminated or a baby with a genetic pathology will be born.
A man has a so-called reproductive age: a period of time at which the probability of successfully conceiving a healthy baby is highest. How to determine this age? Is there a possibility that after the end of this period, a representative of the strong half of humanity will become infertile? Let's figure out if a man's age affects conception, in what life span it is better to plan a child and how to prepare for procreation for a man over 45. At the same time, you will find out why this topic is so important.
Does a man's age affect conception: what happens after reproductive age
The optimal age interval for the body of a man who plans to transfer healthy cells to a woman is 20-40 years. Undoubtedly, quite a lot of men retain the ability to conceive a child at the age of 50+, but the process is accompanied by great risks. The fact is that after 45, genetic mutations start in the male seed, which significantly worsen the quality of spermatozoa. Negative transformations that can happen:
- Genetic mutations in chromosomes that can make the process of conception impossible or adversely affect intrauterine development.
- Reduction in the number and also other qualities of sperm transferred during sexual contact. Therefore, conception may never occur.
- Male germ cells completely lose the function of fertilizing a woman's egg. All attempts in this case will not lead to a result.
A man over 45 who decides to conceive a child without first being examined by a geneticist runs the risk of passing on a large list of problems to the fetus. Among them: Down syndrome, psychological abnormalities, a variety of external mutations, dwarfism and other pathologies.
Already from the age of 30, the quantity and quality of spermatozoa in a man decreases. The situation can be aggravated by addictions and an unhealthy lifestyle.
We definitely found out whether the age of a man affects conception - indeed, there is such a dependence. Not everyone is subject to it, but it does not hurt to make sure of this by first passing the diagnosis.
Prolongation of reproductive age
For the representative of the stronger half, it is really possible to continue the term of the effectiveness of the reproductive function, to reduce the risks of transmitting pathologies. All you need to do:
- quit smoking completely and long before conception;
- give up alcohol (or at least minimize the amount);
- keep fit with the help of sports;
- adhere to the diet and proper diet;
- timely replenish the body with vitamins, minerals;
- avoid hypothermia and overheating;
- have sex regularly, without making long pauses.
Men over the age of 45 should not take baths with too much hot water, completely abandon the sauna and bath. Under the ban - tight tight underwear, squeezing the genital area: this will negatively affect the quality of sperm.
Reproductive function is strongly affected by prostatitis, injuries in the genital area, "sexual" diseases. In each of these cases, it is important to ensure timely treatment. Without it, a man is threatened with impotence and infertility. Therefore, it is better to live right and see a urologist twice a year.
Now you know the answer to whether the age of a man affects conception: use the information to have time to conceive a baby in the best period of the reproductive function. If you want to do it later - do not forget about the medical examination and all the listed risks. Do not plan randomly - the risk is too great.
How long does a man remain fertile? It is not possible to give an unambiguous answer to this question. Childbearing age depends on many factors. In some men, the ability to conceive remains until old age, but in most it fades by the age of 60. It is possible to predict the childbearing age of a particular man, but only if it is known exactly how this subject was sexually formed.
From a medical point of view, the average young man becomes fertile at 14 years of age and retains the ability to conceive up to 60 years. However, this does not mean at all that a young man should become a father before the age of 20. best period for the birth of children in a man - 25-45 years. At this time, the man is most active and his sexual functions have not yet begun to fade.
How does a man mature?
As mentioned above, in a teenager, reproductive function is turned on at 14 years of age. But the development of his reproductive system does not stop there. Next, the teenager goes through a series of periods that affect his reproductive abilities.
The first physiological changes in the reproductive system begin to occur in boys at the age of 10-12. The first sexual feelings for the opposite sex appear. sex drive goes through 3 stages of development:
- The emergence of interest in girls.
- The desire to hold the girl by the hand, touch her, kiss her.
- The appearance of sexual arousal.
Initially, boys are not interested in the immediate physiology of relationships due to low reproductive capacity. Interest in her comes at the 3rd stage of the development of sexual desire.
As you go through all the stages of puberty, a young man produces testosterone. This hormone stimulates the development of sexual characteristics and reproductive function. It also makes a young man fertile and interesting to the opposite sex.
Time of first sexual contact depends on the social environment in which the young man is brought up and lives. Often, due to misconceptions about male sexuality, teenagers see sex as the main goal of a relationship with a girl, and this is wrong. Because of this, young families often break up.
By the age of 25, a man yearns for more sensual relationships. He consciously seeks to start a family. But this doesn't happen to everyone. There are men who prefer to remain free both in relationships and in sex.
According to surveys, it is only after reaching adulthood that most men begin to experience true pleasure from sex with their wives. This is explained by the fact that over the years the couple has learned the sensual secrets of each other. As a result, emotional coloring is mixed with physical satisfaction.
Changes in male sexual behavior with age
The reproductive age of a man largely depends on his sexual activity. For instance, man is 100% fertile, but avoids communication with women due to unwillingness to have children. In this case, we can say that its reproductive function does not work. The reluctance to start a family can stay with him for life.
At the same time, one should take into account the fact that the reproductive age directly depends on the physiological age. After the age of 35, a man's need for sex drops sharply. The thing is that less and less testosterone is being produced in his body. Plus emotional experiences family and stress. All this leads to the fact that his sex is no longer interested. That is, after 35 years, reproductive functions fade.
It should also be borne in mind that over the age of 35 spermatogenesis worsens. Spermatozoa not only become less active, their genetic properties deteriorate.
Socially, a man is best of years to start a family by the age of 35. Surprisingly, the same age is best suited for the birth of a child. But in psychological terms, young people are best prepared for starting a family at the age of 25.
How does age affect fertility?
Among women deadline for the birth of children - 40 years. The fact is that after this age the opportunity to give birth to a healthy child is greatly reduced. In men, everything is more uncertain, since there is practically no research in this regard.
The French made an attempt to change the situation. Scientists from this country studied a sample of documents of 10,000 couples who were treated for infertility. The researchers managed to find out that if men have overcome the milestone of 35 years, then it is more difficult for their wives to bear a child. There is a high chance of miscarriages. By the age of 40, the likelihood of conceiving a child is significantly reduced.
The results of this scientific work cause serious concern among physicians, since in recent decades the average age of men who become fathers for the first time has exceeded 35 years.
How to support reproductive function?
If the decline in fertility is not caused by diseases, then you can resort to the following recommendations:
If these measures do not help, then don't be afraid to see a doctor.
Puberty in men
Physical changes in boys begin to occur from the age of 10-15, which, as a result, culminate in puberty. All these physical changes are subject to the male sex hormone testosterone, and during this period there are three phases: interest in the opposite sex, bodily contact in the form of kisses, holding hands, intimate caresses and, finally, sexual contact.
The third stage mainly depends on the environment and society in which the child was. As a result of numerous studies, it has been proven that adolescents in most cases go for sexual contact under the pressure of social stereotypes. That is why the first sexual experience often develops into promiscuity, giving rise to the standard “goal is sex” scheme in men. During this period, emotional contact and compatibility with a partner absolutely do not matter. But over time, men begin to need moral support on the way to becoming in life, overcoming life's difficulties. Then the representatives of the stronger sex decide to tie up with promiscuity and start a family. However, many never reach this stage, preferring permanent freedom of choice in life and in sex.
The production of testosterone in the male body begins to decline around the age of 30, that's when the man begins to understand that his sexual needs are fading away. It should be noted that this period is also accompanied by frequent stresses and difficulties at work, as well as additional emotional stress if you already have a family and children. Standard scheme“the goal is sex” is no longer so relevant, a man is more interested in the emotional side of life. According to many representatives of the stronger sex, it is in adulthood that they begin to experience truly real pleasure from making love with their wife. After all, the partners have already learned well the needs and preferences of each other.
Middle age is considered the most difficult for a man, especially if he has already taken a career and managed to start a family. He begins to feel that his role in the lives of his loved ones is no longer as important as before. In addition, he realizes that he is no longer sexually attractive as before. The situation is further aggravated by young competition at work and in business. A man's partner during this period may suffer from menopausal symptoms if they are of relatively the same age, which further affects the sexual and psycho-emotional side of life - a woman is quick-tempered, irritable, and quickly gets tired. All of the above factors, which are also accompanied by health problems, begin to impose thoughts of old age and impending death. Such a stressful condition can cause impotence, which only exacerbates the situation. A man in this state often goes to rash acts. Due to lack of demand in the family, he wants to feel young and sexually attractive again, so he begins to look for satisfaction on the side and, as a rule, with a woman much younger than himself.
The quality of sexual life in a mature man will primarily depend on the level of testosterone produced, hormonal changes, the quality of health and muscle tone, and also on the general emotional state. Most affected sex life hormonal background, since age-related changes greatly inhibit libido and cause aging of the urogenital tract. But, despite this, statistics say that only 11% of men experienced a decrease in sexual desire and satisfaction due to age (if there are no health problems), while in other cases, sexual activity only increased or remained at the same level.
Best childbearing age for a man
Fertilization scientists who deal with the procedure of in vitro fertilization have found that after 40 years the probability of becoming a father is only 60%, and by the age of 45 this percentage drops to 35%. The reason for such deplorable statistics is that genetic damage occurs in the produced sperm, which leads to infertility. The number of motile sperm in men decreases with age, and the number of damaged DNA increases. Children of late fathers have a fairly high probability of getting epilepsy or schizophrenia.
From this it can be concluded that best age for conception in men is the period of life from 20 to 35 years. However, we must also remember that the quality of sperm (regardless of age) affects the conception of a healthy child. Sperm motility is negatively affected by smoking, alcohol abuse, infectious diseases and diseases that are sexually transmitted. In addition, the sexual activity of men decreases after 35 years, respectively, and the possibility of becoming pregnant in a woman.
Remember that taking care of your health throughout your life will help a man to prolong his reproductive age as much as possible.
If you want to read all the most interesting about beauty and health, subscribe to the newsletter!
Did you like the material? We will be grateful for the reposts
If you want to have a child in the near future, then not only your own, but also the question of male fertility, should worry you now. After all, the biological clock is ticking for both of you, and with age, there are fewer and fewer opportunities to get pregnant ...
The biggest misconception of many women is that they think that nothing changes with the age of a man. By the way, this misconception is characteristic of most men. But, unfortunately, this is not true. Male fertility, like female fertility, declines with age.
According to a study in the UK, among 2,000 women aged 25-40 who visited a fertility center, those women whose husbands were older than 40-45 years took five times longer to become pregnant than those whose partners were aged 25 to 40 years. And this means that the age of a man is a decisive factor, and it does not even always depend on the age of a woman.
How is male and female fertility different?
These two concepts are completely different. A woman's egg count is set before she is born, drops sharply with age (even before she has a baby), and by the time she reaches menopause, most of her eggs have already died. In addition, as a woman grows older, not only does the number of eggs decrease, but also the likelihood of abnormal eggs increases.
Now as for the man: he produces sperm throughout his life. It gradually decreases with age, but his sperm does not lose its concentration. Therefore, it can be said that there are no special age restrictions for a man to become a father, therefore, in our time, it is not uncommon to see older men with small children. But for women, age plays a huge role in the ability to get pregnant!
The older a woman is, the less the female hormone estrogen is produced in her body, which entails not only a decrease in fertility, but also increases the risk that her child will have genetic abnormalities.
The older a man gets, the less he has the male hormone testosterone. As with reduced estrogen, low testosterone levels reduce a man's fertility and increase the likelihood of fathering a child with genetic problems.
So, the fact that the ability of a man to produce sperm does not depend on age does not mean that its quality does not depend on age! The older the man, the worse, the smaller the volume of the ejaculate and the worse the mobility of spermatozoa, and this is clearly not conducive to conception! In men between the ages of 30 and 50, on average, the volume of ejaculate decreases by 30%, the speed (motility) of spermatozoa decreases by 37% and it becomes 5 times more likely that spermatozoa can be deformed. Most often, it is the shape of the sperm that is responsible for the transfer of genetic information that is deformed. And the more deformed sperm, the higher the likelihood of conceiving a child with genetic abnormalities!
The relationship of genetic abnormalities with the age of a man
Some genetic abnormalities in children, such as dwarfism, have long been associated with the age of their fathers, but such problems are relatively rare. In recent years, clinical studies have shown an association between paternal age and more common genetic disorders such as schizophrenia and Down syndrome. In general, the risk is highest when both parents are over 35 years old.
The risk factor of paternal age is generally not a problem for women under 35 years of age. This is because the ovaries of young women have a built-in mechanism that either repairs damaged sperm DNA or rejects the defective embryo, and the woman has a miscarriage. But such a “safety net” begins to collapse after a woman reaches the age of 35.
Can older men donate sperm?
Because the sperm of older men is often genetically abnormal, some European countries have banned men from donating sperm after they reach a certain age. But in our country, as long as a man's sperm meets all the requirements regarding the volume, quality, quantity and mobility of spermatozoa, he has the right to be.
However, there are very few men whose sperm after the age of 40 would satisfy all these criteria. Yes, and in order to become a donor, you need to go through a lot of research and prescriptions. For example, if you have been pierced or have a tattoo, you will automatically be disqualified because there is a risk that you have been exposed to viral hepatitis B or C.
Ultimately, only about 5% of men who applied to become a sperm donor successfully go through all the procedures, and according to statistics, these men are between the ages of 20 and 35 years.
Does weight affect male fertility?
Yes, weight greatly affects. And the most basic thing you can do to increase your fertility is to remove excess weight! Obesity has always been one of the main causes of male infertility.
In addition, the level of his testosterone depends on the weight of a man. Fat cells (especially belly fat) destroy testosterone due to the fact that visceral fat (at the waist) is converted into estrogen. Estrogen in this case displaces testosterone, therefore, the larger a man's tummy, the lower his testosterone level.
In addition to this, men who are overweight often lead sedentary image life and have a variety of health problems. For example, if a man has a waist circumference of more than 101 cm, then he is at high risk for developing heart disease. You may not know, but heart disease slows down blood flow throughout the body, which is not only bad for the heart, but also very bad for the penis.
Aim for a normal, healthy weight, but don't overdo it! Too thin men suffer from low level testosterone, because if the body does not receive enough nutrients, then this threatens to disrupt the production of sex hormones.
What can a man do to increase fertility?
Unlike women, fertility decline in men is usually a reversible process. Weight loss, treatment of existing infections in the body can sometimes work wonders. Therefore, if you are having problems trying to get pregnant, then do not put off a visit to a specialist for a long time. Timely examination and adequate treatment may well solve your problems.
When it comes to infertility in a couple, 40% of the problem is in the man, 40% in the woman, and another 20% is either a problem in both partners, or the cause of infertility remains unexplained. But male infertility is always easier to diagnose and correct than female infertility, so it is always worth starting the examination with a man.
One of the main causes of male infertility is an infection in some part of the reproductive tract, such as the prostate. Some latent infections may go unnoticed for many years, but they will "quietly" damage or destroy sperm during this time. Other common causes of male infertility are clogged vas deferens and dilated veins in the scrotum (varicocele). All of these problems are treatable.
In conclusion, I would like to note that although it decreases with his age, these changes are less dramatic than in a woman. After the age of 45, about 99% of women are infertile, while men remain fertile at 60 and even beyond. This is explained primarily by the fact that almost 100% of women at this age have very low estrogen, and men at this age have a decrease in testosterone in only 15% of cases.
