[the OlLine Rebel]

"Fatherhood is on the minds of more men in their 40s and 50s these days, impacting the dating world"

Great, more validation of scoping out 20-something females even tho 1 could 1self be their father! :-~

[Red Badger]

I am of the same mode of thought. I'm 49, but can't seem to convince my wife. BTW, That's my daughter's name!

[big'ol_freeper]

ping

[FormerACLUmember]

It is nice to see at least someone interested in having kids. The problem is that many American women are not interested in having children, or are postponing it until they are not biologically able to procreate. And most American women are simply emotionally too selfish and unfit to be successful mothers.

[tbird5]

Selfish baby boomers in the news again.

[TommyUdo]

I am 54yo man, retired, and presently completely exhausted from chasing my 17 month old toddler around the house all morning. As this is my current full-time avocation and profession (yes, I cook and change the oil in car, too) and my wife is going to have another child with whom I will be similarly occupied--I can say without hesitation to any man contemplating this...

Make plans to be joining Mr. Clinton in the Hospital.

[Cacique]

I am over 50 and I think it is absurd and irresponsible. If I were to have a child now I would be over 60 by the time he was 10 years old. The body has already begun it's deterioration due to the aging process. In his formative years the teens I would already statistically be dealing with a number of maladies that would make me unable to be a parent 100% of the time as is necessary. I amy not even be around for the critical 20's as by that time I will be in my seventies when most of my peers are already starting to push up daisies with increasing frequency.

Add to all of this the biological fact that men's sperm begin a steady deterioration after 40, much like female menopause and contribute to birth defects.

Frankly from a practical perspective male parenting should be limited between the ages of 20 to 30 to insure that children will have a healthy and active father around, not some old geezer with a cane.

Unfortunately all I say will fall on deaf ears since there is a great propensity for men to think with two brains instead of one and sometimes the one below takes far too much precedence over the one above.

[familyop]

My, aren't we full of pathologies on issues like this. Most of us have no clue, because we haven't seen prevailing proper behavior.

[MichaelP]

I suppose it's never too late to be a father. I, for one, wouldn't want to deal with it again....

Mike

[snowstorm12]

Sperm Mutations More Likely in Older Men

Researchers found older fathers more likely to pass on birth defects

TUESDAY, Aug. 26 (HealthDayNews) -- Women aren't the only ones who have to pay attention to their biological clock.

Older men's sperm is more likely to contain disease-causing genetic mutations that also seem to increase the sperm's chances of fertilizing an egg, says a study by researchers at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions.

The researchers made the discovery while they were investigating why a rare genetic disease, Apert syndrome, is more common in children born to older fathers. Children born with Apert syndrome have webbed fingers and early fusion of the skull bones, which has to be surgically corrected.

The Johns Hopkins scientists found that mutation rates in sperm increased as men grew older. But these mutation rates weren't enough to fully account for the increased incidence of Apert syndrome in children born to older fathers.

That led the scientists to suspect that the disease-causing mutations in the sperm also offer some benefit to the sperm.

"For some reason, a sperm with one of these mutations is more likely to be used to make a baby than normal sperm," researcher Dr. Ethylin Jabs, director of the Center for Craniofacial Development and Disorders at Johns Hopkins, says in a news release.

This combination of increased mutation rate and the fertilization advantage offered by the mutations may explain the nearly two dozen other genetic conditions associated with older fathers.

[Robert357]

Midlife is typically a time when men are perfecting their golf game.

Actually in this down-sized, outsourced, world-competitive, market environment, nobody I know in middle age is perfecting their golf game. They are all working their butts off or spending their limited free time doing home chores, housework, or things with their family.

The typical American father puts in much more than a 40 hour work week and that give precious little time for "perfecting their golf game."