Risk of Autism Increases with Parental Age -

RSSRisk of Autism Increases with Parental Age - But No One Knows Why
http://autism.about.com/b/2008/10/26/risk-of-autism-increases-with-parental-age-but-no-one-knows-why.htmBy Lisa Jo Rudy, About.com Guide to Autism
Risk of Autism Increases with Parental Age - But No One Knows Why
Sunday October 26, 2008
The UK's Telegraph has done a nice job of summarizing the findings of an American study focused on the risk of autism relative to the ages of parents. The findings are not new; rather, they are confirmation of earlier findings which suggest that older parents are more likely to produce children with autism.
Interestingly, though, this study adds another rather odd bit of information: apparently, FIRST children of older parents are more likely to be autistic than later children. In other words, as the parents grow older and have more children, their age apparently ceases to be as much of an issue.

For mothers aged 35 or over, the risk of having an autistic child was 30 per cent higher than for mothers aged 25 to 29. Mothers under 20 had a 30 per cent lower risk than those aged 35 to 29. Fathers aged 40 or over had a 40 per cent higher risk of having an autistic child than fathers aged 25 to 29.
Many western countries have seen a trend for women to have their first child later in life, while the decline in average family size means that a higher proportion of today's children are first-born.

There is no clear explanation for why parental age increases the risk of having an autistic child. The researchers speculate that older fathers could be more likely to pass on gene mutations, while older mothers may be more prone to age-related chromasome changes or pregnancy complications. Older parents are also more likely to have undergone fertility treatment.

Another theory is that older parents may be more aware of developmental abnormalities, and therefore more likely to seek treatment and have their child diagnosed with disorders such as autism.

Before parents draw too many conclusions from these findings, it's important to make a couple of points.
First, while first-time parents in developed nations are older overall than they were decades ago, the difference in age is minor (about two years). The average age of a first-time parent is nowhere near 35. Thus, while the parental age/autism link may be significant, it certainly wouldn't explain a huge rise in diagnoses (assuming that the rise in diagnoses indicates a real rise in incidence).

Second, some have posited the idea that older parents may have met and married later because of social and communications challenges. If such is the case, then older parents may be more likely to have autistic traits - and thus may be more likely to transmit those traits to their children. This possibility seems to me to have legs - though I don't have research studies to cite on the subject.

As it happens, we were older (I was 36) when my son with autism was born - and 39 when my daughter withOUT autism was born. So these statistics reflect our reality 100%. Does it reflect yours? Or - are you an older adult considering parenthood, and worrying about these new findings? Share your thoughts!