A new record has been set for the oldest father in Britain. Gerry Burks is currently 74 years old, but will turn 75 next week; his wife Dawn is 41. They have named their newborn son Ryan.

The ageing couple already have another son, Daniel, who is 6 years old. They live in Louth in Lincolnshire. Mr Burks is aware that people might say some less than complimentary things about his age and situation, but he has said that he “looks after” himself, and thinks his impressive virility is down to eating bananas.

When being interviewed, Mr Burks described how his first marriage broke down in the mid 1980s, and he spoke of how he “packed up all the bad stuff” (bad habits we assume) around that time. Since then he has lived healthily and eaten bananas as part of his daily diet. Mr Burks fathered three children during his first marriage, which came to an end in 1985.

Dawn, who is now Gerry’s wife, is almost 35 years younger than him. They lived next door to each other before marrying in 2002. Mr Burks used to be a HGV Driver but is now retired, which means he can be a full time father.

Ryan was born on March 12th; initially he had some breathing difficulties, and weighed a relatively light 5lbs 7oz. He is now doing well and is at home with his parents.

Although 74 sounds very old to become a father, Gerry Burks is by no means the oldest father in the world; an Indian man called Nanu Ram Jogi fathered at child at 90 years old! The age for becoming parents is gradually getting older, as new scientific discoveries enable us to live longer and more people are career focused throughout their 20s and 30s. The actor Sir Michael Gambon, who played the legendary role of Professor Dumbledore in the Harry Potter films, has just become a father at the age of 68.

As long as they maintain good health, men can remain fertile until very late in their lives. However women do have more of a biological clock ticking, as they are only able to conceive up until the menopause; the average age for a woman to go through the menopause is 52. 100 years ago it was common for women to be married and have their first child before the age of 20, but now career girls such as our London escorts are choosing to wait until they are in their 30s to start a family. This may have been frowned upon centuries ago but now it is completely socially acceptable.