I am 51 and have a child with autism. My mother, a woman with bipolar disorder, was 30 when he had a son, my deceased brother, who would later develop bipolar disorder himself. She also had four other children who did not develop bipolar disorder, including myself. If she had known of the risk that she would pass on the disorder to even one of her five children, would she have done anything different? If I had known that my advanced age increased the risk that I would have an autistic son would I have done anything different? Would I have taken the risk of never knowing this boy, this blessing, my son? I don't think so. I hope not.

I have been in practice since 1983. My specialty is peri-natal, natural fertility,and pre-conception preparation. I have also published in this area of research. I am very skeptical about this study because it doesn't match the voluminous amount of research done on seeds( lotus seeds 3,000 years old have been discovered and sprouted new plants),fish(the most productive period of male fish is during the last 10% of their lifespan), humans,( the greatest geniuses in history Da Vinci,Michaelangelo,Confucius had much older fathers to mothers ;60/15;60/15;78/17). A few important facts were left out of this study;1) the rise of environmental pollutants which accumulate in the germ cell(spermatozoa).Especially significant are heavy metals,pesticides,estrogen-mimmicking chemicals,vaccinations,over-use of anti-biotics,food additives, processed food have all contributed to a huge drop in sperm count.The average sperm count in the 1930's was 300-500k today in the US it is 30k;20k or below is considered infertile. 2) The source of the main study was in Israel. A country that also came up with one of the stupidest theories-that circumcision or better described as genital mutilation is actually good for babies. Most of the world has banned it. We are behind.
In summary, I agree that any future parent should be screened for heavy metals,sperm count,etc. ;however I don't agree that age itself is the cause but more likely the symptom or correlation.

My and my sister's story may be very unusual, but I think it needs to be told in this context:

My father was 54 and my mother 21 when I was born. Two years later they had my sister too. Neither my sister or I have had any of the problems you mentioned in the article, and we are in our 40ies now.
I fully agree, however, that men's and women's age issues should be treated equally, if not to rethink having children, certainly to be more aware and prepared for this crazy, difficult, and wonderful thing called "life".
Anyhow, to Paul Raeburn, and all you "older" guys out there, remember this: it was my MOM who turned out to have bipolar/schizophrenic problems (she had young parents, and her first episode was years before she met my dad). She had serious episodes several times during our time as a family, and needed help in institutions. It was heart-breaking to us as kids and teenagers. But with all his experience and wisdom, strength and faith even, and especially his very natural love for us kids, DAD (who was 60+ at mom's second episode) was the one who kept our world together when mom wasn't there, or when she was tearing it down. Thinking back, he was like a rock to us, we totally trusted him to stay sane and make things work. And he did. He was our mom and dad during these times, cooking, cleaning, listening, helping, working, tucking in, encouraging us, and telling us mom would be back. In a man's way, of course. Those were difficult times for him, but he was completely there for us.
I am not saying a younger father could not have done the same, because many have. But I do think, while in a way it would be nice to stay forever young, there are some qualities you just can't get in any other way than wandering through life, adding experiences, learning by trial & error, asking questions, healing wounds etc ... And somehow, this makes an older person MORE fit to deal with difficulties, because there is maturity.
Maybe, at a subconscious level, my mom fell in love with my dad for these qualities - because she could feel she would need them - and if so, that was the best falling in love both of them could have done :-) . They were so great together, and I would never have wanted a different mom or a different dad. But what I really wanted to say here is, you might be a BETTER dad because of your age. Don't forget that!
(In fact, my 3 older half-sibblings all say dad was a better dad in his second marriage, though of course he loved all his children equally.)
The only sad thing I can think of right now about having an unusually old dad, is I lost him (to cancer) at 16. We simply get less time together. But the time we get is all we need. If love is there. Because it lives on.

/Elizabeth