Biological clock is ticking...

... for men. Without a procreation time limit, the pressure is seemingly off when it comes to the question of fatherhood. But is it as simple as that? Helen Coffey speaks to the experts

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“Oh yeah. I definitely think I want kids at some point.” I was breezily told this by a guy I was on a sort-of date with – a notable statement considering the man was 44 years old and single.

I had been noticing this phenomenon, or something like it, cropping up more and more frequently recently: unattached men blithely expressing their confident expectation that they would, at some vague, undefined point in the future, realise their paternal destiny – despite apparently taking no action to achieve this goal, such as dating with intention, committing to a relationship or creating the sort of life that would be conducive to starting a family. Even better, sometimes they shared the sentiment that they were “still thinking about it”, having come to no firm conclusions on the matter upon entering middle age.

It’s not just anecdotal. The average age of fathers is going up around the world, including England and Wales, where it has increased to 33.7 years old. There has been a postponement of parenthood in general: the average age of first-time mothers has risen to 29 in the UK (more than half of women now remain childless by the age of 30 for the first time since records began), while the birthrate decline in nearly every country on Earth has been well documented.