Getting older is a part of life. We all know it, expect it and may even embrace it. However, as our bodies age, so do all of our systems, with some not working as well as they once did. Our eyes, joints and even our hearing may begin to lose their "shine." So is it surprising that aging spares no one and nothing – including sperm?

It is widely known and expected that females gradually become less fertile with age and eventually undergo menopause between the ages of 45 and 55 years. However, it has been believed and proven that the male retains his fertility well into old age. "Men do not go through a traditional endocrinological menopause," says Dr. Sherman J. Silber, of the Infertility Center of St. Louis at St. Luke's Hospital in St. Louis, Mo. "Men at middle age do not have hot flashes and dramatic changes in hormone levels as women do. In fact, men have been documented to retain their fertility to as old an age as 94. Thus, it is clear that men do not undergo a menopause similar to women, and men in general can be expected to retain their fertility well into advanced old age."

According to Dr. Silber, until recently we had a poor understanding of the effect of aging on male fertility. As many examples have been offered of older men having babies, the thought of decreased fertility in men was never greatly addressed. "It was assumed that male fertility was relatively immortal because so many elderly men have been able to impregnate their wives," says Dr. Silber. "However, there has been previous crude data showing a relative decrease in sperm count, and possibly fertility, in a certain percentage of aging men. Now, the field of male fertility has come to be mainstream and full of new research, new data and new conclusions."

The number of sperm cells that are produced in aging males continues to be the main focus of studies. "In aging men, the reduction in average daily sperm production is thought to be a main cause of infertility," says Dr. Silber. "It has been proven that the beginning of the reduction of sperm cell production can begin as early as age 25 and continues to decrease. The age-related decline in daily sperm production results largely from a block to further produce sperm that can and do mature in the early prophase stage of production. To explain this in a different fashion, there is no difference between older men and younger men in the number of early primary sperm cells per gram of testicular tissue. However, there is a vast difference between older and younger men in the number of late (or mature) sperm cells."

Research is exploring many of the whys and hows of decreased sperm production and maturity with age. As a result, many explanations have been uncovered.

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