Zoe, age 29, and Zach, age 57, are planning to have a baby. They have heard that the age of the father is not important in the health and development of the offspring. Is this information accurate? Explain how and why the age of the father may influence the development of the offspring.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

The ideal answer should include:
1. Zoe and Zach should be concerned about the age of the father. Fertility begins to decline in both men and women at age 35.
2. Additionally, older fathers are more likely to have offspring with negative developmental outcomes, including autism, schizophrenia, and reduced IQ or social functioning.
3. Older fathers, but not older mothers, have been found to be more likely to have children with de novo mutations, which are mutations that occurred during the process of meiosis and fertilization.
4. Increased rates of de novo mutations are thought to occur because older fathers must produce sperm cells about twice a month, making it more likely that copying errors in the DNA can occur in the process of forming sperm cells.
5. This does not occur in older mothers because the DNA is copied only once during a female's fetal period, when the ova originated.