London - Men should freeze some of their sperm at 18 to reduce the risk of having a disabled child, an expert said.
The chance of fathering a child with disorders such as autism and schizophrenia increases the older a man gets, possibly because sperm deteriorates with age.
Dr Kevin Smith urged the NHS to offer all young men free sperm banking to store high-quality sperm until they want to be fathers.
At the moment, it costs up to £200 (about R1 600) a year to freeze sperm at private sperm banks.
Dr Smith, a bioethicist at Abertay University in Dundee, warned that if nothing was done there would be a gradual reduction of “human fitness in the long term”. However, fertility doctors said the idea was “crackers” and accused him of promoting an unnecessarily artificial approach to parenthood.
They also claimed the risks were small and did not kick in until men were past 45. The average age of fatherhood in England and Wales is around 33, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Writing in the Journal of Medical Ethics, Dr Smith said: “Earlier fatherhood is desirable in terms of maximising genetic integrity.
“If you know there’s a risk that your age will increase the chances of your child having a genetic disorder, you may want to know what the best age for you to have children is, to reduce the risk of a genetic disorder developing in your offspring.
“The risks associated with delayed fatherhood are not widely known and, from an ethical perspective, those considering parenthood must be made aware of these risks so they can make a properly informed decision.
“Although it would require a change in what we as society think is acceptable, this could be solved with a public health campaign.
“It would be straightforward for young men (aged around 18) to elect to have their sperm stored until starting a family, thus avoiding a build-up of new mutations. This may appear radical or intuitively unwelcome to some, in that it would entail a wholescale move away from natural conception.”
But Professor Allan Pacey, of the University of Sheffield, said: “This is one of the most ridiculous suggestions I have heard in a long time. The idea that mass sperm banking for 18-year-olds should be funded by the NHS is simply crackers.
“Sperm from the majority of men won’t freeze well, which is one of the reasons donors are in short supply. Therefore, men who froze their sperm at 18 and returned to use it later would essentially be asking their wives to undergo one or more IVF procedures.”
Daily Mail