Parents after forty may cause genetic disorders in the offspring, which may affect the health of their children

Mothers have long been warned of the increased health risks that they can be exposed to with their children if they give birth at an advanced age, but a new study shows that fathers who give birth to children at an advanced age may affect the child's health as well.

The study showed that children inherit new mutations from their fathers at a rate more than four times what they inherit from their mothers. Research has revealed that any abnormality in a man's DNA is considered a highly influential factor in some rare diseases that affect boys, such as autism and schizophrenia. According to the figures revealed by the study, a child born to parents who are 30 years old, usually inherits 11 new mutations from the mother, while it inherits 45 new mutations from the father.

According to the study, a father at the age of 20 transmits an average of 25 mutations to a child, while a father at the age of 40 transmits about 65 mutations. The study also showed that every year in which a man delays childbearing means the risk of transmitting two additional mutations to the child.

Prof. Dr. Homan Mousavi Fatemi, specialist in reproductive medicine and reproductive surgery and medical director of the IVI Fertility Center in the Middle East, said: “The difference between men and women is that for a woman, all the eggs she secretes in her life are created with her since she was a fetus, while the situation is different for men, A man often does not reach menopause, and continues to produce sperm throughout his life. But when a man exceeds the age of 40, some sperm are exposed to some imbalances, which can cause complications for the fetus. This may occur due to a variety of reasons, including exposure to radiation, some environmental toxicities, or aging. All of these factors can cause an imbalance in sperm production, which can cause genetic disorders in children.”

IVI Fertility Middle East clinic works to ensure that pregnancy occurs in a healthy manner and to exclude any possibility of giving birth to a sick child. For this reason, it is recommended to perform the necessary tests, such as pre-implantation genetic testing, as it can detect any abnormalities in the number of chromosomes in the fetus, before transferring the fetus to the woman's uterus through the IVF technique or sperm injection.
It is known that the fetus usually has 46 chromosomes, distributed in 22 pairs in addition to the sex-determining chromosomes, XX in females and XY in males. An embryo that does not have the correct number of chromosomes is aneuploid. The change in the number of chromosomes can lead to a lack of pregnancy, miscarriages, or the birth of children with disabilities, which can be avoided with necessary tests such as pre-implantation genetic testing. In fact, couples at an advanced age who have previously suffered from genetic disorders, miscarriages or failure of artificial fertilization are always examined to ensure that a healthy pregnancy occurs without complications.
While parents are more likely to pass gene mutations to their children, several other studies have shown that women married to men over the age of 40 were 27 percent more likely to miscarry than women married to men age 25 or younger. Which in turn causes more complications in pregnancy, especially since the number of women's eggs begins to decrease with time. It was also observed that the rates of cancer in the offspring increased with the age of the fathers, and that is most likely as a result of DNA mutations in addition to a group of other causes.
Dr. Barbara Lovrens, Consultant Obstetrician and Gynecologist and IVF Technologist at IVI Fertility Center Middle East, said: “At the center, we seek to avoid the possibility of any genetic mutations through the advanced medical technologies that we apply. These advanced and customized treatment techniques are based on ensuring that every case is diagnosed effectively, which leads to high success rates.”
IVI Fertility Middle East Clinic is part of the global IVI Fertility Center that specializes in fertility treatments, and has helped deliver more than 160,000 babies worldwide. The center has an international reputation for the science and advanced research it conducts in the field of reproductive medicine. The first IVI Fertility Middle East clinic was opened in Abu Dhabi and became a success factor for hundreds of couples in a short period of time. Subsequently, new clinics were opened in Dubai and in the Omani capital, Muscat. IVI Fertility Middle East Clinic provides various services for fertility treatment using the latest technology and led by a team of specialized doctors led by Prof. Dr. Homan Fatmi. The clinic's successful pregnancy rates are more than 72%. There are currently 71 IVI Fertility clinics around the world including Abu Dhabi, Dubai and Muscat, and the center helps millions of patients around the world realize their dream of having children.