Marry Before 40 If You Want Healthy Children, Doctors Advises Nigerian Men

Men who aspire to have healthy children should consider settling down and starting a family before the age of 40, according to Professor Nuhu Dakum, President of the Nigerian Association of Urological Surgeons.

In an exclusive interview with PUNCH Healthwise, Professor Dakum warned that ageing negatively impacts sperm quality—specifically sperm count, motility, morphology, and DNA integrity—thereby increasing the risk of passing genetic disorders to offspring.

“Sperm quality reduces with age. The count, motility, and morphology are all adversely affected. Also, there is an increase in damage to the sperm DNA, thus predisposing babies to genetic diseases,” he explained.

He noted that while the decline varies from person to person, the effects typically become significant around the age of 40. Contributing factors include biological ageing, lifestyle choices like smoking and alcohol consumption, poor diet, and occupational exposure to toxins.

His comments come amid a viral discussion on social media platform X (formerly Twitter), where a user suggested that older men are more likely to father children with genetic mutations such as autism, Down syndrome, and schizophrenia due to “weak sperm.”

Medical authorities like the Texas Fertility Centre and Healthline support these claims, stating that sperm quality and quantity do decline with age—often markedly so after 50—resulting in a rise in age-related male infertility.

Still, Professor Dakum acknowledged that older men can improve their chances of fathering healthy children by adopting healthier lifestyles. “Living healthy improves general and thus sperm health,” he said, adding that more advanced options such as sperm DNA screening or genetic embryo selection are available, though often costly and not easily accessible.

“Donor sperm is also an alternative for older couples facing fertility challenges,” he added.

This growing awareness of male fertility and its ties to age has sparked new conversations around family planning, reproductive health, and the importance of early intervention for men who wish to become fathers.