August 18, 2006

Advanced Age Associated with Miscarriage

Father's age, an effect that holds regardless of the age of the mother.

According to new research published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, those pregnancies conceived with older fathers are more likely to end in miscarriage, irrespective of the age of the mother.

Dr. Karine Kleinhaus, who led the study while with the Columbia University School of Public Health in New York, and colleagues found that the risk of miscarriage of a fetus conceived by a father over age 40 was 60 percent greater than if the father were 25 to 29, irrespective of other factors that have been linked with increased miscarriage risk in the past. These factors include the mother's age, maternal diabetes, poor maternal health and smoking during pregnancy.

The increased risk of miscarriage does not just apply to fathers in their 40s, however. The miscarriage risk in a pregnancy involving a father aged 35 to 39 was three times higher than the risk if the father were under 25.

It's hardly happy news for those who are struggling with fertility. Yet I can't help noting that given all the hysteria about delayed childbearing for women, and the responsibility of career women delaying families, this story doesn't get much attention. I found it in our "move-in" day student newspaper, where it had been pulled from the U-Wire (along with a whole bunch of other filler they used to, well, fill the pages).

Posted by binky at August 18, 2006 08:31 PM | TrackBack | Posted to Health


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