We are used to disregarding the father's age as a factor for miscarriage and fetal trouble. New studies show quite the opposite.

In a large study, in which 14,000 women participated during the 1960's and 1970's, it was revealed that miscarriages rise the older the father gets, regardless of the mother's age.

The study showed a sixty percent rise in risk as the father ages forty. Even in his thirties, the risk is tripled.  Today, it is considered a health risk for the baby if the father is too old.  His fertility is also at risk, in spite of the notion that a man can have a baby any age.

"Men who are overweight... have a higher chance of lower testosterone levels," Dr. Harry Fisch, director of the Male Reproductive Center and professor of clinical urology at Columbia University, says that many of factors affect a man's fertility, such as cigarette smoking, heart problems and obesity. He does not believe that men should stop having children at a certain age, but they do need to be tested for risks of future complications.

Many studies have shown the connection of older fathers and the risk of a baby developing down syndrome.  Dr. Fisch tested 3,400 cases of Down syndrome, finding that if both parents are over 35, the risk for Down syndrome lies in the father more than in the mother.

The study was published in 2003 in The Journal of Urology.

In another study dealing with autism, an Israeli researcher,  Dr. Avraham Reichenberg, of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York City, found after investigating over 315,000 cases of autism in Israel, that the risk is six times greater if the father is over forty. The findings were published in the September 2006 issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry.
 
Still another study found that the risk of schizophrenia in children was tied to older age of the father. In the study, which included about 90,000 people, the researchers discovered that children whose fathers were 50 or older when they were born were nearly three times more likely to have the disorder than those born to younger fathers. That study was published in 2001 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.
 
So, it turns out that men have biological clocks as well. If you are in the risk group, get tested (prenatal tests) and see your risk factors.
If you are active, do not smoke and lead a healthy life style, you have a greater chance of having a healthy baby.

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