IVF success rates halve by the time a man turns 50 irrespective of their female partner's age, according to a group of Melbourne scientists who are pushing for greater awareness of the male biological clock.

Until recently, the focus of both fertility experts and research scientists has been overwhelmingly on women’s bodies, while male reproductive health has been almost ignored.

IVF success rates halve by the time a man turns 50, irrespective of their female partner's age, according to a group of Melbourne scientists who are pushing for greater awareness of the male biological clock.

But researchers at Monash University are pushing to dispel the myth that all men can have children well into their 60s and 70s.

As part of their study, published in the Journal Human Reproduction, the researchers analysed 1506 patients with unexplained infertility between 1992 and 2017. Couples with diagnosed female-factor infertility were excluded from the subset.