Doctors and medical ethicists alike are warning about the risks of fathering children in old age, following news that actor Al Pacino is expecting a child at age 83.
Pacino’s girlfriend, Noor Alfallah, is eight months pregnant. The "Scarface" star already has three other children: daughter Julie Marie, 33, and 22-year-old twins Anton and Olivia.
Pacino's friend and former co-star Robert De Niro welcomed his seventh child last month at age 79.
Research published over the last decade suggests that babies born to older men have an increased risk of arriving prematurely or developing birth defects, certain cancers or neurodevelopmental disorders, though the overall risk is still low.
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"Older guys have been having babies since biblical days. It’s not a new phenomenon. What we didn’t understand was they might be producing kids with a higher risk of problems," said Arthur Caplan, a professor of medical ethics at NYU's Grossman School of Medicine.
The medical community does not have a consistent definition of so-called advanced paternal age, but the American Urological Association and American Society for Reproductive Medicine jointly recommend that doctors talk to men ages 40 and up about the increased risk of adverse health outcomes in their offspring.
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