Older dads

[AlwaysLei8]

Me (35f) and my husband 52(f) are ttc. I've never been pregnant before. He apparently got someone pregnant 10+ years ago. They were in an unstable relationship and she chose to have a termination so apparently he 'knows his swimmers work'. Anyway my point is that my friends have been ribbing me about my husbands 'old sperm' saying with us both being 'older' we are going to struggle to conceive and are more likely to have a baby with disabilities.
Does anyone have any stories confirming or disproving this?

I work in the autism field and although research is still ongoing - autism has been proven now to have a genetic factor. And "can" be linked to other fathers.

Having said that, the statistics just aren't there yet.

Good luck TTC, anyone making negative comments around your fertility and plans for the future don't really sound like friends.

Older*

Not other.

I've heard about the autism link too but nothing I could reference. It may be worth doing some research but remember it's not a definite link yet and not all research is equal.

Your friends are correct about it being harder to conceive as you get older. Though this is more about you, not him. And Downs is more likely with older mothers.

It might be better to look at the scientific evidence than asking for people's "stories" OP.

There is a large amount of research into older mothers' rate of conceiving and of giving birth to children with disabilities. Less but still some into older fathers.

Hi just here in solidarity. I'm 25, DH is 47, I'm aware it may take longer but I'm hopeful, he's healthy, maybe has too hot baths but not very often and has a couple of coffees a day that's it.

I've read theres an increased risk of various things including autism, but I'm autistic so we have the generic risk anyway and I have a good understanding of how to manage autism so I'm not worried.

Fingers crossed for us:)

Apologies I realise my post sounded as if I thought,or knew, that there were huge risks with older mothers and/or fathers. There aren't, just increased risks! Look at the statistics. However it give one "story", as I know they help us emotionally: I was 37 and 39 when I gave birth, and my ex was considerably older: no difficulty conceiving, no disabilities of any kind in my kids.