Do men have biological clocks too?

Men have biological clocks just like women - and it starts ticking in their mid-30s.

That’s according to a new French study, which found that men are more likely to shoot blanks after the age of 35.

It gets worse. According to this new research, alarm bells go off five years later when a man hits 40 as his chances of becoming a father become “significantly lower”.

Okay, I imagine you are shouting several names of people - famous, un-famous and infamous - who have become dads well past the age of 40.

But let’s be clear - it’s only saying your chances diminish as you get older. Now, that’s hardly earth-shattering news, especially when you consider you probably suffer with more stress, spend less time exercising and are more likely to be impotent when you get older.

However, when you consider most men’s only worries about having kids later in life revolve around whether they would they be able to play football with their sons or whether they would be an embarrassment to their teenage daughters at the age of 60, it certainly raises questions.

Personally, at 34, I was thinking of becoming a dad at around 50, selfishly so I could have someone to look after me when I retire, which at the current rate is going to be when I am about 223.

But now it seems I may have to rethink these plans. I mean, who needs kids anyway when you have a fast car and a dog? Unfortunately, neither of these things can change your bed pan.

Anyway, so how did they come up this? Well, they tested around 12,200 couples on fertility treatment at the Eylau Centre for Assisted Reproduction in Paris between January and December 2006.

All were given artificial inseminations, in which sperm is inserted into the womb when the woman is ovulating. The men’s sperm was also examined.

As expected, women over 35 found it more difficult to conceive and were prone to miscarriages.
However, surprisingly, there was also a greater likelihood of miscarriage when the fathers were in their late 30s.

That risk became even greater when the men hit 40. In fact, for those couples, only 10 per cent resulted in successful pregnancies.

Dr Stephanie Belloc, who presented the work to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) conference in Barcelona, said: “This research has important implications for couples wanting to start a family.”

Speaking to the BBC, Dr Allan Pacey, a fertility expert at Sheffield University and secretary of the British Fertility Society, said: “There is growing evidence from a number of studies to show that men are not totally immune from reproductive ageing.

“Previous studies of couples trying to conceive naturally or undergoing IVF have shown that men over the age of about 40 are less fertile than younger men. Moreover, if they do achieve a pregnancy their partners are more likely to miscarry.

“This study reinforces the message that men aren’t excused from reproductive ageing.”