{"id":2912,"date":"2015-06-05T11:40:12","date_gmt":"2015-06-05T10:40:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=2912"},"modified":"2015-06-05T11:40:12","modified_gmt":"2015-06-05T10:40:12","slug":"the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2015\/06\/05\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\/","title":{"rendered":"The Moral Desirability of Early Fatherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

Guest Post by Kevin Smith<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

It is well known that the risk of disorders resulting from chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down\u2019s syndrome, correlates with advancing maternal age. \u00a0Less widely known is the correlation between the age of fathers and an increased risk of a range of disorders in their resultant offspring, the most prominent of which are neuropsychiatric conditions including schizophrenia and autism. \u00a0This is the paternal age effect, the importance of which has recently become clear through a growing body of molecular genetic and epidemiological data.<\/p>\n

The paternal age effect results from new mutations occurring in the stem cells from which sperm cells are derived, resulting in an accumulating mutational burden as the male ages. \u00a0Genetic abnormalities resulting from these\u00a0paternal mutations are usually subtle at the molecular level (involving as little as a single nucleotide change), highly heterogeneous, and do not usually result in detectable foetal abnormalities. \u00a0Accordingly, the opportunity for prenatal detection of such cases is very limited. \u00a0(By contrast, the genetic abnormalities associated with maternal aging typically involve substantive chromosomal aberrations, comprise a relatively restricted range of commonly occurring forms, and frequently produce marked foetal defects; these features ensure that routine screening and testing reveals the majority of such cases prior to birth, permitting termination of affected foetuses.) \u00a0Additionally, and again in contrast to genetic aberrations associated with maternal age, paternal de novo<\/em> mutations are transmitted through successive generations of males, with a concomitant intergenerational accumulation of genetic abnormalities. \u00a0Moreover, at least in Western societies, the average age of fatherhood is increasing markedly, a situation that will increase the burden of these\u00a0mutations. \u00a0It follows that the age of potential fathers is of significant ethical importance.<\/p>\n

My paper explores the ethical aspects of paternal age, in respect of both individual procreative decisions and societal responsibilities. \u00a0I argue inter alia<\/em> that, somewhat contrary to the commonplace disapproval of young parents, early fatherhood is ethically desirable. \u00a0The most immediate practical means to achieve a reduction in paternal de novo<\/em> mutations and associated genetic disorders would be the promotion of sperm banking amongst young males.<\/p>\n

Read the full paper here<\/a><\/span><\/span>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Guest Post by Kevin Smith It is well known that the risk of disorders resulting from chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down\u2019s syndrome, correlates with advancing maternal age. \u00a0Less widely known is the correlation between the age of fathers and an increased risk of a range of disorders in their resultant offspring, the most prominent of […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2147,2153,443,328,2022],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-genetic-jiggerypokery","category-guest-post","category-jme","category-philosophy","category-reproduction"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Moral Desirability of Early Fatherhood - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2015\/06\/05\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Moral Desirability of Early Fatherhood - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Guest Post by Kevin Smith It is well known that the risk of disorders resulting from chromosomal abnormalities, such as Down\u2019s syndrome, correlates with advancing maternal age. \u00a0Less widely known is the correlation between the age of fathers and an increased risk of a range of disorders in their resultant offspring, the most prominent of [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2015\/06\/05\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2015-06-05T10:40:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/05\\\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/05\\\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"The Moral Desirability of Early Fatherhood\",\"datePublished\":\"2015-06-05T10:40:12+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/05\\\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":358,\"commentCount\":1,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Genetic jiggerypokery\",\"Guest Post\",\"JME\",\"Philosophy\",\"Reproduction\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/05\\\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/05\\\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2015\\\/06\\\/05\\\/the-moral-desirability-of-early-fatherhood\\\/\",\"name\":\"The Moral Desirability of Early Fatherhood - 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