Freeze your sperm at 18 to reduce the risk of having a disabled child later in life, doctor claims

This one na genge! How person go save sperm? According to recent report. Men should consider freezing their sperm at the age of 18 to reduce the chance of having a disabled child, a British expert has suggested. The risk of having a child with disorders such as autism and schizophrenia increases the older a father gets, emerging research suggests.

This is thought to be linked to the quality of a man’s sperm, which deteriorates with age. Dr Kevin Smith, a bioethicist at Abertay University in Dundee, today called for the NHS to offer all young men free sperm banking, so they can store high-quality sperm until they are ready to be fathers. Freezing
facilities in private sperm banks do exist – but cost up to N70,000 (£200) a year.



Dr Smith said a public health campaign is needed, to raise awareness of the problem – and warned that if nothing is done there would be a gradual reduction of ‘human fitness in the long term’. Fertility doctors, however, greeted the controversial suggestion as ‘crackers’ – and accused Dr Smith of promoting an unnecessarily artificial approach to parenthood.

They said the risks of older fatherhood are small – and do not kick in until well into the 40s. But Dr Smith, writing in the respected Journal of Medical Ethics, said: ‘In principle, it would be straightforward for young men (aged perhaps 18) to elect to have their sperm stored until starting a family at an older age, thus avoiding a build-up of new mutations.’

‘If you’re a man and you know there’s a risk that your age will increase the chances of your child having a genetic disorder, you may want to know what the best age for you to have children at is in order to reduce the risk of a genetic disorder developing in your offspring.

‘From the evidence that has come to light over the past few years it is clear that earlier fatherhood is desirable in terms of maximising genetic integrity.’ The average age of fatherhood in England and Wales increased from 31 in the early 1990s to nearly 33 by 2013, according to the Office for National Statistics.

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