A really important aspect when trying to conceive is the effect of age on fertility. Let’s explore the possibilities in this brief article, or watch the video for more details.

This issue is relevant for both women and men, as highlighted here.

Knowing the specific issues can help in family planning as people enter committed relationships later in life.

How Men’s Age Affects Their Fertility

Yes, age effects on fertility are quite different in men and women.

It appears more ‘set’ in women who have a defined period around which their fertility starts to reduce.

But what of men?

Your fertility as a man is dependent on several factors and not just age.

Read about the causes of Male Infertility here.

And so the fact is that just as women’s fertility does decline after a period, so does men’s.

Lifestyle choices, overall health and occupation play a part in the changes that happen as a man ages, but generally, fertility is highest in the 20s-30s than in the 50s-60s.

Male Fertility Decline is an actual ‘thing’ – as men’s testes can produce sperm every day – in numbers, we are speaking of anything from 100- 200 million fresh new sperm every day.

While this activity of daily producing sperm does not technically have an ‘endpoint’, it does reduce with increasing age.

In addition, naturally, the DNA of the sperm produced will be affected by age so that they may be less active (motile), or more likely to have abnormalities.

This affects fertilisation and subsequent pregnancy chances.

Watch the video to learn how age in both women and men can affect a couple’s chances of having a baby.

Women’s Age Effects on Fertility

As a woman, you know that menarche to menopause are the periods during which you are able to bear children.

In a more defined way, a woman can determine how her age affects her fertility – outside of other issues that can reduce it.

Women ovulate, that is, release eggs from each ovary from menarche till menopause.

However, unlike men, women are not generating or producing new eggs daily.

As a woman, you are already born with all the eggs you will ever have.

We call this your ‘ovarian reserve’.

It is from this store that your body releases an egg for fertilisation every month.

But along your monthly cycle, you also lose thousands of eggs every month.

And as women grow older, the quality of DNA in remaining eggs may naturally decline to reduce the chance for fertilisation and healthy pregnancy.

So women simply by ageing will experience loss of egg count and egg quality, while men with age will experience loss of sperm quality.

Knowing some of these differences in the sexes can help with understanding

Have you got questions about improving your fertility? Ask here.

Learn some Tips here about improving your fertility and how ectopic pregnancy could affect future pregnancies.

More Reading

• ​​Tips on Improving Your Fertility
• 8 Critical Lifestyle Changes To Make After Age 40
• Male Infertility and its Causes – Part 1
• Male Infertility and its causes – Part 2
• Growing Old and Mental Health

Edited by AskAwayHealth Team

Disclaimer

All AskAwayHealth articles are written by practising Medical Practitioners on a wide range of healthcare conditions to provide evidence-based guidance and to help promote quality healthcare.

The advice in our material is not meant to replace the management of your specific condition by a qualified healthcare practitioner.
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