Parental age at conception and offspring longevity

Current knowledge suggests that parental age has many influences on offspring. This topic has been exhaustively reviewed in Finch's monograph. The major maternal age-related changes in humans are increases in fetal aneuploidy later in reproductive life; Down's syndrome (trisomy 21); Kleinfelter's syndrome (XXY); Edward's syndrome (trisomy 18); and Patau's syndrome (trisomy 13). Despite a recent dramatic decrease in fetal death rates, advanced maternal age remains an important independent risk factor for fetal death.