I can't let this discussion of sixty-plus women go by without dropping in some men bits. (No use flinching, guys, as your contribution should be held up for inspection by the general public just as often, and as easily.)

Although Dr. Rashbrook is being raked over the coals, the man standing by her side through the process, I've noticed, is also no spring chicken. His age may not be splattered all over the headlines, but could be more a factor in the health of their child than his wife's.

The baby is developing from a donated egg ... it seems safe to assume the egg donor was a young, healthy woman ... fertilized by the husband's sperm.

There is now research linking older fathers to low birth weights and the complications that can arise:

"This is just one more study that's indicating that fathers matter too," co-author Dr. Nancy E. Reichman of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in New Brunswick, told Reuters Health.

While a number of studies have linked advanced paternal age to birth defects and pregnancy complications, the current study is the first to examine the effect of a father's age on low birth weight in an urban context, Reichman her co-author, Dr. Julien O. Teitler of Columbia University in New York, note in their report in the American Journal of Public Health.

Birth weight below 2500 grams (about 5.5 pounds) increases an infant's risk of disorders such as cerebral palsy, deafness and attention deficit disorder, the researchers point out.

... Men's age had the same influence on the risk of low birth weight as the mother's age did, the researchers found, with women 35 or older about twice as likely to have underweight infants than younger women.

Something makes me think that this grey-haired, sixty-something dad would be getting rounds of applause and great admiration if the woman impregnated with his seed was was not sixty-three, but twenty-three. There's no doubt that the press, although possibly privately impressed, would not be covering that story.

In certain circles, old dads are heroes of a fashion, symbols of a never-diminishing virility aspired to by many ... men. So, while women like Dr. Rashbrook get all sorts of stick about the money and the science that made this pregnancy possible, the millions spent on Viagra and its ilk seem a worthwhile investment.

What's good for the goose? ...

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