Robert De Niro is joining a special club: new, older dads

How rare is it to be an older dad? A 2018 study by researchers at Stanford University looked at more than 34.3 million births in the United States from 2007 to 2016 for which the father’s age was available.

The study found that fathers between the ages of 25 and 34 accounted for the largest share of those births, around 18.3 million. But by age 55, men were much less likely to become fathers. The percentage of births among men aged 55 years and over reached 111,130 births during the decade. The study published in the British Medical Journal.

The study found that the average age of fathers was higher during this period, from 30 years old to 31.2 years old. In an earlier study that looked back in time, researchers found that the average age of fathers had increased from 27.4 years in 1972.

De Niro’s case is rare, but not unprecedented. The Guinness Book of World Records lists the oldest “legitimate father” as a 92-year-old Australian man who fathered a child in 1998. Notable adult parents have reportedly included novelist Saul Bellew, actor Anthony Quinn, and actor James Doohan, who was They have children at 84, 81, and 80, respectively.

The Stanford study found an association between older fathers and a greater risk of several medical problems in babies, including prematurity, low birth weight, need for ventilation, and need for intensive care. But the study’s senior author said in a statement that the overall risk to children remains relatively low.

Research also suggests that children of older fathers have an increased risk of developing psychiatric and neurological problems, including schizophrenia and autism, said Dr. Martin Catharines, chief of reproductive medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Wednesday.

He said he tells older prospective parents that “these problems are still not uncommon for people, but the kids you have will be at a higher risk of them.” He said he has seen men in their 70s who want children but that is rare.

He said the exact causes of medical problems among children of older fathers remain a mystery. “Nobody really understands why that is,” he said.

“We’re learning more about the risks of paternal advancing age,” he said. “This is an area of ​​some active research focus.”

The increase in the age of fathers coincides with the increase in the age of mothers. Birth rates have fallen for women in their 20s and jump for women in their late 30s and early 40s, according to last year’s report From the US Census Bureau.

older mothers – those aged 35 or over – are more likely to have pregnancy complications and pass some chromosomal conditions, such as Down syndrome, to their children, According to the Mayo Clinic.

Materials from the Associated Press are used in this report.

Martin Finucane can be reached at [email protected].