Naked Science Forum
Life Sciences => Physiology & Medicine => Topic started by: neilep on 06/05/2007 15:50:07
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Why is is that blokes can be daddies so much later than girlies can be mummies ?
Is this what nature intended ?....if so...why so ?
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I have known women to have babies in late 5o's two of them. There were complications though and health issues..
Neily what is the oldest a man has been to still be fertile, or is it possible for him to remain fertile until old age or death. Have they ever really tested sperm samples of very old males, or is there a point when you all become less active little swimmers.LOL.. And I am Still trying to keep this within the context of your question.. Its's a good question!
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I have known of men as old as 75 being daddies !
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I doubt that it was a design criteria. Human beings, in their original state, probably rarely lived to what we now consider to be old age, and so the difference between the maximum age that men and women can have babies probably was not significant. It was only as both men and women started growing older on a regular basis, that women started hitting a limit that did not exist for men.
There may be an issue in that males in most species have less energy investment in creating a baby than females do (the stresses of pregnancy upon an older woman would not be a pertinent issue for an older man).
The actual technical reason it is so is probably bound up with the fact that all of the eggs that a women will use throughout her life are actually created before she is born, whereas sperm is created continually throughout a mans life; thus a woman's eggs, if they are to be used at age 50, must have survived to over 50 years, whereas the males sperm may only be about 3 months old.
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The actual technical reason it is so is probably bound up with the fact that all of the eggs that a women will use throughout her life are actually created before she is born, whereas sperm is created continually throughout a mans life; thus a woman's eggs, if they are to be used at age 50, must have survived to over 50 years, whereas the males sperm may only be about 3 months old.
Whilst you are totally correct about women being born with all of their eggs, i just question wheather sperm is or can be 3 months old. i always thought that new sperm was made every 7 to 21 days!
There may be an issue in that males in most species have less energy investment in creating a baby than females do (the stresses of pregnancy upon an older woman would not be a pertinent issue for an older man).
less energy, yes. but they have more invested in prolonging their lineage, could this also be a reason why men continue to produce sperm long after women has stopped producing their eggs.
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I doubt that it was a design criteria. Human beings, in their original state, probably rarely lived to what we now consider to be old age, and so the difference between the maximum age that men and women can have babies probably was not significant. It was only as both men and women started growing older on a regular basis, that women started hitting a limit that did not exist for men.
There may be an issue in that males in most species have less energy investment in creating a baby than females do (the stresses of pregnancy upon an older woman would not be a pertinent issue for an older man).
The actual technical reason it is so is probably bound up with the fact that all of the eggs that a women will use throughout her life are actually created before she is born, whereas sperm is created continually throughout a mans life; thus a woman's eggs, if they are to be used at age 50, must have survived to over 50 years, whereas the males sperm may only be about 3 months old.
THANK YOU GEORGE ....I did in fact wonder about the stresses upon girlies giving birth and then thought why did not nature make it easier in the first place .
I see your point about the eggs though.
THANK YOU.
As a side note....It IS very stressful for us blokes to make babies...I don't think the girlies realise it especially when they blow out of all proportion the so called ' strain and pain ' that they apparently have when they give birth...which ..as we all know is a myth and not true at all !!...i still can not see what the fuss is about.... [;)] each and everyone of my children made me miss a program on TV...now that really hurt !!...... [;)]
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Whilst you are totally correct about women being born with all of their eggs, i just question wheather sperm is or can be 3 months old. i always thought that new sperm was made every 7 to 21 days!
To be honest, I am not actually sure what the cycle time is for sperm, and I can imagine there might be recovery times at various levels depending upon how deep the depletion goes.
less energy, yes. but they have more invested in prolonging their lineage, could this also be a reason why men continue to produce sperm long after women has stopped producing their eggs.
I am not sure what you mean by 'more invested in prolonging their lineage'? More of what, in what way?
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I doubt that it was a design criteria. Human beings, in their original state, probably rarely lived to what we now consider to be old age, and so the difference between the maximum age that men and women can have babies probably was not significant. It was only as both men and women started growing older on a regular basis, that women started hitting a limit that did not exist for men.
There may be an issue in that males in most species have less energy investment in creating a baby than females do (the stresses of pregnancy upon an older woman would not be a pertinent issue for an older man).
The actual technical reason it is so is probably bound up with the fact that all of the eggs that a women will use throughout her life are actually created before she is born, whereas sperm is created continually throughout a mans life; thus a woman's eggs, if they are to be used at age 50, must have survived to over 50 years, whereas the males sperm may only be about 3 months old.
THANK YOU GEORGE ....I did in fact wonder about the stresses upon girlies giving birth and then thought why did not nature make it easier in the first place .
I see your point about the eggs though.
THANK YOU.
As a side note....It IS very stressful for us blokes to make babies...I don't think the girlies realise it especially when they blow out of all proportion the so called ' strain and pain ' that they apparently have when they give birth...which ..as we all know is a myth and not true at all !!...i still can not see what the fuss is about.... [;)] each and everyone of my children made me miss a program on TV...now that really hurt !!...... [;)]
LOL...LOL Every time I hear you say that I laugh.. and think oh God should preform one more miracle! LOL I want you to give birth!!! LOL Yes, That will be my wish.. LOL Neily ( 9 months pregnant! Swollen ankles, achy back, Labor pains every minute with contractions from H**** LOL....HEE HEE HEE I will miss TV forever for that experience...LOL
All Joking aside, and me knows your joking too. I really wish men could have the experience so they would better understand the bond the feelings the whole package..I would never trade you permanently because I loved being pregnant.. it was great.. wonderful and I felt terrific! Not crabby but happy and really alive and healthy. I got sick once that was it! no achy icky stuff like I described, but many of me friends had plenty of misery. I was emotional But I am anyway...
Yes indeedy Neily needs to give birth!!!
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Why is is that blokes can be daddies so much later than girlies can be mummies ?
Is this what nature intended ?....if so...why so ?
I also wonder what the differences are in women who do give birth older then most, in their 50's? Are they generally more active in every way, perhaps sexually as well as physically too?could this help a women stay fertile?
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Yeah I think it is as already stated that women have a certain amount of eggs which they release once a month they cannot make any more and once these eggs are used up they can no-long become pregnant.
Also prenancy is not easy on a womens body, and many stages of it the women can be at risk, So the younger and healthier a women is the better chances of survival for both parties involved!
The reason why women continue to live on after they have used all their eggs up(as all other animals tend to die after there reproductive abilities end). Which only happens in one other group of mamals 'whales'! only whales and humans in the natural world have grandparents that cannot reproduce...
It is claimed that this is to increase the likelyhood of genetic survival of the grandparents genes as they take a new role in providing help/assistance and guidence in the raising of their grandchildren!
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Those are all good thoughts..I did not know so many female species died after reproducing I really am surprised by that as I knew many did, but didn't know how prevelent in other species..
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They dont nescessarily die after reproducing but either die just before or after they stop being able to- there is a big difference! I think that is generally believed to be because older members of a spieces that cannot reproduce simply drain the resourses from the other members and therefore have no benifit in remaining alive and have naturally evolved to die off!
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Yeah I think it is as already stated that women have a certain amount of eggs which they release once a month they cannot make any more and once these eggs are used up they can no-long become pregnant.
My understanding is that by the time of the menopause, the eggs have not been used up as such - the ovaries has still more eggs left, but they are severely degraded with age.
I would imaging that with the correct hormone treatment, it would be possible to persuade the ovaries to start releasing eggs again, but whether the eggs would be viable, and what the percentage of miscarriages and still births would be, and those babies that do survive, how many would in some was be damaged, is another matter.
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I find interesting the concept that humans are one species live well past their reproductive age (up to 40-50 or so), enabling them to contribute to the care and upbringing of the second generation offspring, and thereby (possibly) adding to the success of the species in a reproductive sense.
I also have to agree that, without the access to medical technologies and health care in the developed world, the life expectancies of humans would be a fair bit lower than we currently accept them to be. Thus, we probably wouldn't outlive our optimum reproductive ages by a great deal.