Comments on: Sometimes, Bad News Sounds A Lot Like Good News.

By: have.at.it

have.at.it — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 19:26:06 +0000

I actually shivered with glee when I read this article. Yes, it’s true, creepy old dudes! Entropy touches all of us! Your gyroscope will stop spinning, too! Time to quit bothering the young chicks and go find someone your old age. Your hefty retirement account and house on the beach will not make up for the fact that your reproductive material is damaged!
OK, so maybe I’m gloating too much. But seriously, after thousands of years of men having just all the time in the world to make babies, it’s about fucking time that they have to start planning education plus career plus babies plus retirement into their busy lives, just like the womenz!.

By: Hill Rat

Hill Rat — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:25:40 +0000

I thought this was common knowledge about older fathers. There was an older guy trying to get his mack on with several different women at my Dad’s funeral and my Mom said that no woman should bother with him because, ” . . . he’s got old sperm.” Needless to say, I had to have several more drinks.

By: Spark

Spark — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:46:30 +0000

JD, you read my mind (again) about the pot and laptop radiation…

It sounds like Lisa Belkin may be redeeming herself for starting that “opt out revolution” thing.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:39:29 +0000

@JDRegent: Yeah, that’s kind of how I feel. You do it when you can if you want them. The VAST majority turn out just fine. My mom had me when she was 26, but she was a special ed teacher and surrounded by handicapped/autistic/Down syndrom kids, which totally skewed her perception and made her wake up in the middle of the night all worried that something would be wrong with me. I think if you read too much of the mainstream media, you can get that same skewed perception.

By: JDRegent

JDRegent — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:33:39 +0000

How big an increase in risk factor is this really though? My parents had my eldest sibling at age 25 and he has Aspbergers, two types of cancer and a rare blood disease. To a certain extent you gotta just have kids when you can, if you want, and fuck the odds, right?

By: B-612

B-612 — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:28:59 +0000

I read something similar last month: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29595513/. “Children of older dads do less well in IQ tests…Men may experience sperm mutation as they age, research indicates. Recent studies have drawn links between older fathers and specific health problems in their children, including birth deformities and cancer, as well as neuropsychiatric conditions such as autism and schizophrenia.” hmmh and my Hubbie is turning 40 this year.

By: JDRegent

JDRegent — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:25:47 +0000

my future baby daddy is actually younger than me, but I figure years of pot smoking and laptops radiating into his genitals will create their own issues.

By: BeckySharper

BeckySharper — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:12:44 +0000

@funnyface: Yes, I was surprised Belkin didn’t mention that in the article–it’s been known for a long time that dwarfism (aka achondroplasia) is more common in kids with older dads.

@JDRegent, Kruschev: Word. Except now we have to worry about how old HE is too.

By: funnyface

funnyface — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 14:05:09 +0000

They left out one of the old dad risks! My husband was reading one of his peds journals the other day and suddenly announced, “WE HAVE TO HAVE KIDS BEFORE I’M 35.” I looked up from the laptop, “And why is that?” “BECAUSE IF WE DON’T THEY COULD BE MIDGETS.” Apparently the odds of a dwarfism-causing mutation are much higher for dads over 35.

By: JDRegent

JDRegent — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 13:51:56 +0000

Like I needed another reason to have a fertility freakout.