Fertility and Time: Does Age Really Affect Sperm Quality?

Previous studies have suggested that older men may have lower sperm counts, which can result in fertility issues among couples trying to conceive. However, a recent study found that conception may depend more on the women's fertility and less on the age of a man's sperm. In fact, researchers found that age was not typically a determinant factor for sperm quality or count. 

For the study, researchers gathered data on fertility treatments and discovered that older men's sperm was not any less effective than younger ones.

"It is sperm quality rather than male age that matters," said Meenakshi Choudhary, from Britain's Newcastle Fertility Centre at Life, via the Times of India. "Our results suggest that, up to the age of 45, there is little effect of male age on the treatment's outcome."

For the study, researchers analyzed data on fertility treatment cycles that incorporated sperm donations between 1991 and 2012. With data from Britain's Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA), they examined 230,000 sperm donation cycles with 39,282 occurring throughout the first cycle treatment. The two forms of treatment included were in-vitro fertilization (IVF) and insemination.

First, researchers examined the rate of live birth in women who used IVF techniques. Next, they compared this to those who received sperm from donors in their 20s to the rate of women who received sperm from donors in their 40s.

Findings revealed that the rate for the group receiving younger sperm counts was about 28.3 percent. The rate for those who received older counts was around 30.4 percent and donor insemination was 9.7 percent in women who received younger sperm and 12 percent for women who received older sperm.

Though a man's age may not necessarily affect the quality of his sperm, previous findings have shown that older fathers may be at an increased risk for having children with birth defects.

More information regarding the study findings were presented at the Annual Meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) taking place in Munich.