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Influence of parental age on chromosomal abnormalities in PGT-A embryos: exponentially increasing in the mother and completely null in the father

  • Assisted Reproduction Technologies
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Abstract

Purpose

To study the influence of parental age on aneuploidy rates (AR) in PGT-A cycles and on the recurrence rate.

Methods

A total of 16,029 PGT-A cycles were studied over a 9-year period. The median age was 40.0 [37.0; 41.0] in women and 40.0 [37.0; 43.0] in men. In 48.3%, the biopsy was performed on day 3 embryos (D3E) and in 51.7% on blastocysts (79.5% using NGS).

Results

In women, the AR was almost constant at < 50% until the age of 35 but increased steadily to reach > 90% at 44. The AR pattern varied according to embryo stage and was considerably higher in D3E, with a steeper curve. A U-pattern was observed in D3E, whereas this was not seen in blastocysts.

In the blastocysts analyzed using NGS, trisomy 21 increased sixfold (from < 1% at < 30 to nearly 5% in women aged 40), whereas trisomies 13 and 18 increased their frequency twofold. After 3 biopsied blastocysts studied using NGS, 100% of women aged ≤ 30 had at least 1 euploid embryo, vs 96% aged 31–35, almost 80% aged 36–40, 50% aged 41–45, and 33% aged 46–50.

In terms of the man’s age, the non-adjusted analysis revealed a correlation with AR. However, after correcting for the woman’s age, no correlation was observed. The man’s age was not associated with any of the aneuploidies potentially resulting in a newborn.

Conclusions

Carrying out PGT-A systematically in IVF cycles from the age of 38–39 is highly recommended. Advanced paternal age does not carry an increased risk of aneuploidy for the embryo and does not in itself constitute an indication for PGT-A.

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Data availability

Data will be made available to the editors of the journal for review or query upon request.

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Aknowledgements

The author I.M. was supported by Basque Government funding, grant IT456-22.

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Matorras, R., Sierra, S., Pérez-Fernández, S. et al. Influence of parental age on chromosomal abnormalities in PGT-A embryos: exponentially increasing in the mother and completely null in the father. J Assist Reprod Genet 42, 1833–1844 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10815-025-03462-0

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