Genetic Architecture of Reproduction and Longevity in Historical Dutch Cohorts

Life-history theory predicts a trade-off between reproduction and survival, often invoked to explain human ageing through antagonistic pleiotropy, yet evidence for a genetic trade-off between fertility and longevity in humans remains mixed. We tested whether reproductive traits and lifespan are linked by additive genetic covariance in a large historical Dutch genealogical dataset comprising individuals born between 1850 and 1915. Using quantitative genetic animal models, we estimated heritabilities, cross-sex phenotypic and genetic correlations, and within-sex genetic correlations among lifespan, offspring number, and ages at first and last reproduction. Separate analyses were performed for individuals surviving beyond ages 13 and 45. Lifespan and reproductive traits were moderately heritable, and high cross-sex genetic correlations indicated substantial shared genetic architecture between the sexes. Genetic correlations between parity and lifespan provided limited evidence for a fertility-longevity trade-off: they were weakly negative in women, but close to zero or weakly positive in men. In contrast, age at first reproduction showed moderate positive genetic correlations with lifespan in the 13+ sample. Higher parity was strongly genetically associated with earlier first reproduction and later last reproduction, indicating that offspring number is partly embedded in the genetic architecture of reproductive timing. Age at first and last reproduction were also positively genetically correlated, suggesting a trade-off between reproductive investment in early versus late life. These findings suggest that shared genetic influences on viability, developmental tempo, and reproductive timing may be more important in shaping reproduction-survival associations than a simple allocation trade-off between fertility and somatic maintenance.