Paternal age matters little in assisted reproduction

For couples seeking to conceive via assisted reproduction, advanced age for male partners does not appear to lower the chances of being a parent, according to a study.

For the retrospective study, researchers looked at the medical records of 56,113 women who were younger than 36 years and had undergone frozen embryo transfer at a university-affiliated fertility centre, along with their male partners. The participants were grouped into six based on the age of the male partner: <25, 25‒29, 30‒34, 35‒39, 40‒44, and ≥45 years.

Logistic regression models were used to examine the association of paternal age with live birth and perinatal outcomes following in vitro fertilization-frozen embryo transfer, with paternal age 25‒29 years serving as the reference.

Multivariable analyses showed that compared with the reference, advanced paternal age was not associated with decreased odds of live birth (40‒44 years: adjusted odds ratio [OR], 0.94, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.85–1.04; ≥45 years: adjusted OR, 0.93, 95 percent CI, 0.79-1.10).

Furthermore, there were no significant between-group differences in the rates of clinical pregnancy (40‒44 years: adjusted OR, 0.95, 95 percent CI, 0.85–1.05; ≥45 years: adjusted OR, 0.94, 95 percent CI, 0.79–1.12) and miscarriage (40‒44 years: adjusted OR, 1.05, 95 percent CI, 0.85–1.31; ≥45 years: adjusted OR, 1.07, 95 percent CI, 0.77–1.50).

For men in the youngest age group (<25 years), pregnancy outcomes were comparable to those in the reference group.

In terms of perinatal outcomes, preterm birth, low birthweight, macrosomia, small-for-gestational-age, and large-for-gestational-age were similar across the paternal age groups.

In light of the global trend toward delaying childbirth, the present data may be used to counsel couples that increasing paternal age may not adversely affect pregnancy and perinatal outcomes in assisted reproduction, the researchers said.