Men crossing 40 are at high risk of infertility: Study

Lots of studies have been conducted on women, their pregnancy, miscarriage and their infertility as well. It is being accepted that women loose their fertility gradually with their ascending age, but a new study has raised alarm bell among men crossing the 40-year mark.

Marrying in the later age has been gaining momentum these days.

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But, the latest findings perhaps would impede the ongoing trend of later-age marriage or else conceiving at the late age. Ignoring the findings, otherwise, could prevent a man from fatherhood and a man's chance of having a family.

The research warned that like women, men's age also contributes significantly to make his partner pregnant. In fact, a successful pregnancy not only depends on woman's age, but also on her sexual partner.

A team of French researchers has observed that chances for men crossing 40 are almost a third less likely to conceive with their partner in comparison to males under 35. Chances of fatherhood significantly go on decreasing with their increasing age.

For the study, the researchers focussed on 12,000 couples, which went on fertility treatment at the Eylau Centre for Assisted Reproduction in Paris between January 2002 and the December 2006. The researchers found that the successful pregnancy rate fell to 9.3 percent for men older than 45, while it was 13.6 for men falling between 30 and 35.

The study involved a form of fertility treatment, known as IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) in which the sperm is specifically treated, washed and then inserted directly into the uterus when the woman is ovulating.

The findings of the study are not new. Previous studies of couples trying to conceive naturally or undergoing IVF have shown that men over 40 years of age are less fertile than younger men.

Details of the findings were presented at the 24th annual conference of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) in Barcelona.