Early puberty - early menopause?

[Vroomfondleswaistcoat]

I'm sorry if this is a really stupid question. But I've been hearing SO MUCH lately about girls starting puberty at, what seem to me to be, incredibly young ages. 10 years old no longer seems to be 'really young', and the age of puberty is dropping all the time.

Given that we have a finite supply of eggs, does this mean that, in the future, we're going to have a generation of women who reach menopause much earlier than previous generations? Are women going to have to have families much younger, in order to be fertile? Or does 'reaching puberty' and starting periods not equal ovulation? I know one can have periods without ovulating, so is this is what is happening in these very young girls?

There was a study that said some women who started their period at a young age also started menopause at a younger age.

I started at 11 and am now in peri menopause and have probably been in it for a couple of years.

There's no individual correlation but stastically in the population as a whole girls are starting their periods earlier and the average age of menopause has come down from 57 to 51 in the last century. Given that as a society we are tending towards extending education and women establishing careers first and children later it does significantly compress the fertility window when our bodies are moving in the opposite direction.

Part of starting puberty is linked to weight. In the past many people were undernourished. Now the reverse is true.

We don’t “run out of eggs”, we have millions of the wee things, all made by our mother’s body when we were in utero.

https://www.webmd.com/children/features/obesity

My Mum started at 10 and had her last period just before she turned 60! My grandma was similar apparently and so was my auntie on my Mums side.

I started at 10 so I assume I'll follow in their footsteps.

A lot of factors affect menopause.

For instance smoking causes early menopause.

I started my periods when I was 9, almost 10.

My last period was a 51.
No idea when menopause started as I didn't/ don't have any symptoms.

I was almost 14 when I got my first period and now I'm almost 53 and having a period right now, despite being on HRT and progesterone every day

No correlation whatsoever.

Didn't start menstruating until a few months shy of my sixteenth birthday. Always had light, incredibly easy periods. Went into perimenopause in my late 30s which prompted several GPs to dismiss my concerns as I was (according to them) 'too young' 🙄
Am now 48 and three years post menopause.

Have always been healthy, fit and at the lower end of the BMI for my height. Never took hormonal contraception, never had children or did IVF. Never smoked. I strongly suspect I stopped ovulating in my mid-thirties and the women's health specialist I see confirmed that premature ovarian failure was what pushed me into perimenopause. She also thinks that stress can play a huge factor too. Indeed, was dealing with a triple whammy of a longterm relationship break-up, an eviction and a redundancy when I went into perimenopause hell.

I don’t think there is any answer because there is no science behind it.

Im very much a trust personal expertise (parents,grandparents) over book knowledge, but even in this area there is no set answer. I’ve also heard stories of woman having children later in Life delaying menopause, I have many friends going through it even though they had children late in life (late 39s/40s).

Nothing is certain, I had a friend go through menopause in her 30s, no children.

Quite frankly, it’s the luck of the draw.

Yes, onset of menstruation is linked to body fat, isn't it?

And I thought the best indicator of when you're likely to go through the menopause is the age your mum did.

I started at 10. I was diagnosed as perimopausal at 36. At that point we were already having trouble with male factor stuff. But these fit and wore well throughout the day

My max was 5 but I have a friend yield 20 eggs twice

I’m not sure either, I thought I was young, was nearly 12, but my daughter has only just turned 10 and started hers, which I think seems realy really young, she’s only in year 5, whereas I was about to go high school. but, I will add I had a baby in November at the age of 45 ☺️ So 🤷🏼‍♀️ I feel as youthful as ever and periods are same as they’ve always been

Started at 9, last period at 48. My cycle could be anything from 14 days to 6 weeks. Not sure if that made any difference.

Menopause isn't studied nearly enough for us to know for sure, but I don't think it's that simple.

I started having periods at 12. I had my eldest child at 22, youngest at 35 (and a few in between!) and discovered that extended breastfeeding paused my cycles so effectively I only had a handful of periods in those intervening years.

I'm now mid-40s and definitely perimenopausal. I don't have any family history to make an educated guess, but I'm bracing myself for 10+ years of faffing before I'm officially done with menstruating.

My anecdote doesn't really prove anything I guess. 🤷🏼‍♀️

And I thought the best indicator of when you're likely to go through the menopause is the age your mum did.

My daughters and I all started at 12. I think my mum was more like 15, but that tracks as it was more common back then to start mid-teens.

I thought the best indicator of when you're likely to go through the menopause is the age your mum did.

Mine had a hysterectomy at 24/25 after 3 kids so dosnt work in my case. Wouldn’t have a clue about my grandmothers as they didn’t talk about these things. One grandmother had her first child at 22 and last 2 at 42 so menopause would have come after that. Other grandmother had her first child around 20ish and last mid to late 30s, so again assume menopause was after this.

I had my first child at 36 and last at 42, I can never remember how old I was with my period, I remember it happening but can’t remember my age, it was either just before my 12th or 13th birthdays.

I read somewhere that having children late in life delays menopause. No idea if this is true or not.

I was born in 1970 and was nearly 14. My daughter born 2003 got her period at 11.. that is a BIG difference in just one generation. Seems common though, that age to start periods has become you ger, not gradually over a hundred years but really suddenly.

Anecdotally I have heard that late puberty can equal early menopause but not the other way round. My mother and grandmothers had early puberty (10-12) and pretty late menopause (50s-late 50s) so I don’t think it necessarily follows, also you don’t run out of eggs at menopause you just stop ovulating

Weight definitely does factor into this. My daughter is 14 and hasn't started yet but she's only 5 stone 8. I'm trying to help her put on enough weight to be 6 stone because I don't think she'll start until she does.

Its more about body fat % than an actual weight that prompts it to start

Oh yes, I'd agree.