The Age Gauge: Older Fathers Having Children

Editor's Note: In recent years, scientists have debated the existence of a link between a father's age and his child's vulnerability to psychiatric problems. Our authors led a research team that produced a paper that analyzed data on all individuals born in Sweden from 1973 through 2001. Both the authors' study and another study raise as many questions as they answer, but they suggest that children born to middle-aged men are more likely than their older siblings to develop a range of mental difficulties, including bipolar disorder, autism, and schizophrenia.