The average Italian wannabe dad
is 35 years old, and this makes him less likely to be fertile,
medical sources said Thursday.
As it turns out, men also have a biological clock reducing
their fertility and compromising the quality of their sperm as
time wears on, according to recent findings.
"We're used to the belief that negative effects on human
reproductive capacity - the so-called biological clock - are a
purely female prerogative," said Rocco Rago from Rome's Sandro
Pertini hospital.
"However it has been scientifically proven that sperm
function - i.e. mobility and morphology - also deteriorates as
age increases. As well, the DNA the sperm carry is more and more
damaged as time goes on," Rago said.
A recent study on women in Denmark, Germany, Italy and
Spain showed that women aged 30-34 are more likely to miscarry
if their male partner is over 40 years old, he said.
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