Pregnancy in your Forties, better late than never
Dear Friend,
I got a pretty interesting question the other day about fertility from a wannabe dad that I wanted to share with you because if there is one, there is sure to be more. Here is the email and my response: "Doc, I am 42 and found the woman of my dreams. She is a little younger at 35 and we want to start a family. I am concerned about my ability to "keep up" with her and of course to father children although there is no medical reason why I can't. Any suggestions as far as supplements go?" Jake Smith - NYC Hi Jake, and first off congrats on finding that special person. As you probably know men stay fecund longer than women and some guys have had kids all the way out into their 70's. There are really 3 separate issues of being an older dad we should address here today. 1) Keeping up with the young lady. In spite of what the literature may suggest women really do come into their own sexually in their mid 30's. Many have by now learned to enjoy sex in a shameless fashion with that special someone. In many cases the mid 30's are a woman’s sexual peak. There is of course that little matter of the biological time clock ticking as well. 2) Father a child at your age. This can be a bit more challenging than you might think even though there is anecdotal evidence of older men having kids. It turns out that due to stress, pollution and toxins, the older a man gets the lower his sperm count is likely to be, and this particular generation has the lowest on record (although I am not sure who the keeper of the sperm count records is!). 3) Keeping up with your kids (and your wife!) as you grow older. If you have kids in your 40's they will be in college in your 60's and that means you'd better plan on sticking around for a while because the nest often empties later rather than sooner these days.
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