Piecing Together the Infertility Puzzle

Nov. 27, 2006— -- It is well known that a woman's ability to conceive takes a dramatic dive as she approaches 40, but, what about the male biological clock?

Men are often the forgotten piece of the infertility puzzle, but recent research suggests that infertility or early pregnancy loss isn't always because of an aging egg.

A recent report from the Journal of the American Medical Association looks at past research to examine why aging men experience declining fertility.

It appears that men older than 35 are twice as likely to be infertile as men younger than 25.

As men age, both the number and quality of their sperm decline -- so older men become less likely to father a child and more likely to father a child with schizophrenia, Down syndrome, or other problems.

A recent study suggests that autism, an increasing problem with no known cause, may also be linked to paternal age because men 40 years or older are almost six times more likely to have a child with an autism disorder than men younger than 30.

Miscarriages also are more common as dad gets older.

It's not unusual for a woman to get her hormones, ovulatory function and fallopian tubes tested months before her husband has even had a basic semen analysis.

Given that 20 percent of couples are infertile because of abnormal or absent sperm and that 27 percent of infertile couples have a combination of male and female factors, it makes sense to evaluate a man's equipment, so to speak, sooner rather than later.

While it's true that it only takes one sperm to impregnate an egg, sperm are not particularly skilled at the whole penetration thing.

While women only need to release one egg to successfully conceive, pregnancy is unlikely to occur unless there are millions of sperm swarming around it.

That's why the first step in an evaluation of male fertility is a semen analysis, to see how many of the little guys there are.