Content area
Full text
Changing patterns of education, employment, and marriage mean that the average age of childbearing for women is increasing, resulting in higher risks of adverse reproductive outcomes. 1, 2 It has recently been suggested that the decade 25-35 years is the optimal age for women in Westernised societies to have their children balancing education, career, and family. 3 In England and Wales, the mean age at childbearing increased from 26.4 years in 1974 to 29.3 years in 2002. 1 Healthcare systems have responded to the increased risk associated with delaying maternity by offering screening for congenital abnormalities and treatment for infertility. 4, 5 Meanwhile, the average paternal age is also increasing. The mean age of fathers in England and Wales increased from 29.2 years in 1980 to 32.1 in 2002. 6 The public health implications of this trend have not been widely anticipated or debated.
TIME TRENDS IN PATERNAL AGE
Births within marriage
In 1993, fathers aged <35 years accounted for 74% of live births within marriage in England and Wales, while only 25% of such births were to fathers aged 35-54 years. Ten years later, these percentages were 60% and 40%. Figure 1 illustrates these trends. If this trend continues, the proportion of fathers >35 years will further increase.
Trends in paternal age for live births within marriage in England and Wales, 1993-2003: (A) decreasing trends <35 years, (B) increasing trends 35-54 years. Source: Series FM1 no 32 (ONS, 2003). (Births to fathers over 54 years account for less than 0.5% of live births within marriages and are not shown).
ALL BIRTHS
Data on time trends in paternal ages for all births in England and Wales are not available, and it could be argued that the increasing proportion of births occurring outside marriage will lead to declining paternal ages as the fathers of such children are younger than those for children born to married couples. Figure 2 shows the age distribution of fathers for all births in England and Wales in 2003, which reaches a maximum at age 32. While this approximately normal distribution is mirrored closely for the 60% of births that occurred within marriage, the paternal ages for births outside marriage is more uniform between the ages of 22 and 33 years, with...