Men Have Biological Clocks, Too

[CShine]

For years, women of a certain age -- say, 35 and older -- have listened anxiously to the ticking of their biological clocks, mindful that with each passing birthday their fertility was decreasing and their chances of producing a baby with a birth defect was increasing. Now, it's the guys' turn to pay attention to their own biological clocks. While fertility doesn't decrease as dramatically as for a woman, a man does have a biological clock, experts say. But these scientists disagree on exactly when the alarm sounds.

In general, "there's a decline in testosterone of about 1 percent per year for men after age 30," said Dr. Harry Fisch, director of the Male Reproductive Center at Columbia University in New York City. But it's difficult to pinpoint which men will have trouble conceiving a child with a birth defect based on age, he said. "The problem is the biological clock ticks at different speeds for different men," he explained.

While Fisch encourages men who want to be fathers to do so "sooner rather than later," another fertility expert contends there's not a big rush. The loud ticking of the clock doesn't usually begin until a man is in his 50s, said Dr. Larry Lipshultz, chairman of the American Urological Association's Council on Reproductive Health.

"As a man gets over 50, his sperm count decreases statistically but not clinically significantly," Lipshultz said. In other words, a test could detect the decline, but a man could still easily become a father. "Men will always make sperm," Lipshultz added. "In that sense, there is not the same biological clock" as for women, who have no more eggs left by menopause.

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=97&ncid=751&e=7&u=/hsn/20040612/hl_hsn/menhavebiologicalclockstoo

[LiberalVoice]

1. That means...

I have 9 years before my "boys" start swimming sideways and, 29 years before some of them are too old to get in the pool. :P

[Spinzonner]

2. Some of your "Boys"

are girls

[LiberalVoice]

3. Touche!

:P

[Doctor Smith]

4. It's so hard to tell at that age.

[sam sarrha]

5. i have a biological clock. it goes off every morning about 5am.

unfortunately, the wife strung out on Prosac.... i trail a long 3rd of 4th to Fox channel sitcoms.:boring:

[TexasBushwhacker]

6. Smoking and drinking

have a detrimental effect on sperm count too. So if you're smoking and drinking in your late 30's like you're still a frat boy in your early 20's, that's just 2 more things you can add to age that decrease your fertility.

[TahitiNut]

7. Jockey shorts (briefs) make the clock tick faster.

[sendero]

8. Not exactly...

... wearing briefs suppresses sperm count but it is not permanent. If you go back to boxers it returns to normal :)

[union_maid]

9. Sperm count notwithstanding...

If you're planning on getting up with the baby, keeping up with a toddler and then traipsing around to various sports events in all kinds of weather, take your vitamins and don't wait until you're at the age when you're dozing off as soon as you hit the sofa. :)

[Poiuyt]

10. Tony Randall was my hero

Didn't he father a child when he was in his 70's?

[TexasBushwhacker]

11. How is that heroic?

I find it incredibly selfish. Having children at that age virtually guaranteed that he would die when they were very young and indeed, he did. His daughter just turned 7 in April and his son will turn 6 this summer. Sure, they have their mother and a bunch of money, but heroic? Puhleeeze!

[union_maid]

13. I agree

I thought it was awful when he did that. Just ego. It's not like he was going to be around to see them grow up. Money's not everything.

What really frosts me is when some rich famous geezer starts a new family and goes on in print about how much better this is because he can spend all this time with them or because he can appreciate them and now he feels like a "real" father. That must make the kids from his first, second, or whatever families feel great.

[neuvocat]

12. I don't know about that.

My dad fathered my twin and I and he only had one testicle. He was well in his fifties then.