Are you sperm cells getting older with you?
There is a big focus on women's fertility, which is the best in women's 20s, it declines in her late 20s/early 30s and falls rapidly after 35 years of age. The difference between female and male fertility is that women are born with a certain amount of eggs in their ovaries, which they will live with, but a man's body is producing new sperm throughout their lifetime[1].
Even though when men who are more than 70 years old are still producing sperm, it doesn't mean that the sperm cells will stay the same for the whole life. The sperm cells may change due to the lifestyle choices (diet, exercise, drinking, etc.) and due to aging.
However, the sperm concentration doesn't chance over time. Studies, however, show that the following sperm parameters decline over the time: “total sperm count and total motile sperm - after 34 years of age; sperm concentration and fraction of sperm with normal morphology - after 40 years of age; sperm motility and progressive parameters of motile sperm - after 43 years of age; ejaculate volume - after 45 years of age; ratio of Y:X-bearing sperm in ejaculates - after 55 years of age.”[2] This study involving 5,081 men in the age bracket from 16.5 – 72.3 years, says that the biggest chance for men to fertilize an egg in natural way is before the age of 34.[3]
Still there is no curtain age till when a man can make a woman pregnant in a natural way, but typically in men's 60s testicles do get smaller and sperm morphology (shape of sperm cell) and motility (movement) declines.[4]
Good lifestyle as a balanced diet, not smoking and doing exercise can only help. You can read more about how to improve your sperm here.
[1] https://www.reproductivefacts.org/news-and-publications/patient-fact-sheets-and-booklets/documents/fact-sheets-and-info-booklets/age-and-fertility/
[2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5922227/?fbclid=IwAR2ilw6mbiuxjL5TOKX5YZDxWWPbcYIxtRYxJR5ad-OpG_bKiZrxQeKt2A4#b0380 Stone B.A., Alex A., Werlin L.B., Marrs R.P. Age thresholds for changes in semen parameters in men. Fertil Steril. 2013;100:952–958. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5922227/?fbclid=IwAR2ilw6mbiuxjL5TOKX5YZDxWWPbcYIxtRYxJR5ad-OpG_bKiZrxQeKt2A4#b0380 Stone B.A., Alex A., Werlin L.B., Marrs R.P. Age thresholds for changes in semen parameters in men. Fertil Steril. 2013;100:952–958. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
[4] https://www.reproductivefacts.org/news-and-publications/patient-fact-sheets-and-booklets/documents/fact-sheets-and-info-booklets/age-and-fertility/ Fertility in the Aging Male
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