Paternal age predicts live birth in women above 40 years of age undergoing in-vitro fertilization (IVF)

Purpose: To determine which factors predict pregnancy outcome in women aged 40 years and above who underwent in-vitro fertilization. Method: We conducted a retrospective case-control study of 631 women aged 40-46 years, who underwent a total of 904 IVF cycles with autologous gametes. We used stepwise logistic regression analysis to develop predictors of pregnancy, clinical pregnancy and live birth outcomes. Data are presented as mean ± SD, percentage and confidence intervals. Results: Predictors of live birth included maternal (95% CI: 0.36-0.78) and paternal (95% CI: 0.62-0.94) age, the number of follicels > 14 mm (95% CI: 1.2-3.2), the number of oocytes collected (95% CI: 1.3-2.9) the number of metaphase II oocytes (95% CI: 1.3-2.4) and the number of cleavage stage embryos (95% CI: 1.8-2.6). The predictors of pregnancy and clinical pregnancy were similar but did not include male age (P > 0.05). To further determine the role of male age in live birth a control group of women younger than 40 years was collected. Male age was not a significant predictor of live birth among younger women (P = 0.42). Conclusions: Female age and better ovarian stimulation were confirmed as predictors of outcomes in older women doing IVF. However, male age was also noted to be a significant individual predictor of live birth in women over 40 years of age, but not in younger women doing IVF.