top of page
Search

103: Paternal Age and Fertility


When Janet Jackson announced that she was pregnant at the age of 50, the world gasped and threw judgment in every shade at her. She was too old to have a baby, what was she thinking?

But when George Clooney announced he was expecting twins with his wife Amal Clooney, when he was five years older than Janet Jackson was, no one batted an eye.

There's a misconception that just because men produce sperm into late in life that means they're able to conceive a healthy child for just as long too. That's just not true.

On this episode, I speak with fertility specialist Dr. Aimee Eyvazzadeh about the realities of men's biological clock. We discuss how it contributes to unexplained infertility or miscarriages and what they can do to improve their sperm to increase the likelihood of the couple getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy and baby.

 

Listen on iTunes | Listen on Stitcher | Listen on iHeartRadio

 

Episode highlights...

  • How social media distorts the realities, risks and benefits of expecting babies at an older age

  • How she encourages her patients to remember importance of PMA when going through fertility treatment

  • What is it about a man's age impacts male fertility and whether a couple gets pregnant

  • Genetic variance in the sperm can impact whether you are able to create a genetically healthy

  • Perfectly normal semen permaters can still have high DNA fragmentation in sperm which results in a low chance of having a live birth

  • Men over the age of 40, have chronic medical issues, are overweight or have been trying to get pregnant without success should check their DNA fragmentation index

  • Identify whether sperm is contributing your chances of conceiving or carrying a healthy pregnancy

  • How to improve sperm quality to improve your chances of conceiving and having a healthy pregnancy

  • Our culture and medical practice tends to blame egg quality far more easily and frequently for fertility challenges than to investigate sperm quality as well

  • What happens when men are resistant to learning about their health and fertility and how to get on the same page

  • The ways paternal age impacts a couple's ability to get pregnant and have a healthy pregnancy and healthy baby

  • When to consider donor sperm

  • Why she recommends PICSI when doing IVF to help improve their chances of getting pregnant

  • An amazing story of hope for a couple who were convinced they could not have children and then were able to get pregnant with the help of Dr. Aimee

  • When freezing sperm is a good option for couples

Paternal age matters when it comes to getting pregnant and having a healthy pregnancy. Both men and women have a biological clock and if you want to have children in your future both women AND men should check into their health early.

Resources from the show...

Tweetables

Having millions of sperm isn't enough. Sperm quality matters too (