#ThursdayThoughts
As promised, each Thursday, we will now offer you a piece of educational, science, or research related information. The purpose of our #ThursdayThoughts post is to share with you fact-based content that can enlighten and assist you on your fertility journey. Enjoy our post! Helping to Create New Beginnings….
Advanced paternal age, male factor infertility, and embryo quality
As women get older, egg quality declines and rate of infertility increases. In addition, women requiring IVF have lower success rates compared to their younger counterparts, and the rate of chromosomally abnormal embryos (rate of aneuploidy) increases considerably.
What is less well established is the relationship between male partner age and embryo quality. The literature suggests that advanced paternal age impacts embryo development and increases risk for embryonic genetic aberrations, although studies have reported conflicting results [1,2].
At the Fertility institute of Hawaii, we reviewed our data regarding our donor egg cycle outcomes. A total of 243 cycles were included in this retrospective cohort study. We found that male factor infertility and male partner age did not predict percent euploidy (the percent of normal embryos available for transfer) in linear regression models. Low euploidy rate was also not associated with advanced paternal age (> 50 years), donor age, and donor AMH. Our results will be presented at the upcoming 2021 Pacific Coast Reproductive Society (PCRS) virtual conference.
In conclusion, male partner age and male factor infertility are not associated with the percent of available euploid (normal) embryos among patients undergoing donor egg cycles at our center. More research is needed to determine if these results are generalizable to other populations.
For more information regarding diminished ovarian reserve and/or male factor infertility, please call our office at 808-545-2800 to schedule a consultation with one of our physicians, or visit our website https://www.ivfcenterhawaii.com/.
References:
- Dviri M, et al. Is there a correlation between paternal age and aneuploidy rate? An analysis of 3,118 embryos derived from young egg donors. Fertil Steril. 2020 Aug;114(2):293-300.
- Kim MK, et al. Effects of paternal age on human embryo development in in vitro fertilization with preimplantation genetic screening. Clin Exp Reprod Med. 2019 Mar;46(1):22-29.
