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Potentially stupid question re eggs

3 replies

PotOfYoghurt · 18/08/2014 22:54

I've been pondering this all evening, and I can't quite work out what I think is correct and it might indeed be ridiculous, but:

If a woman is born with a set number of eggs, and each time she ovulates an egg is released in each menstrual cycle that number would decrease. If for whatever reason, ie contraceptive pill, a woman didn't ovulate then an egg wouldn't be released so the egg count wouldn't go down.

Would this have any effect on fertility, or is the number of eggs that are kept as a result of not ovulating be so small as opposed to the total number of eggs that any effect would be negligible?

Does this even make sense? Anyone know?

OP posts:
LynetteScavo · 18/08/2014 23:07

No. There are plenty of eggs, it's not as simple as you release one a month, and when you've run out you experience menopause.

Each month, between 15 and 20 eggs mature inside your ovaries. The ripest egg is released and swept into one of your fallopian tubes. Your fallopian tubes connect your ovaries to your uterus. Once in the uterus the fertilized egg can implant into thickened uterine lining and continue to develop. If fertilization does not take place, the uterine lining is shed as menstrual flow. In addition, the female reproductive system produces female sex hormones that maintain the reproductive cycle.

During menopause the female reproductive system gradually stops making the female hormones necessary for the reproductive cycle to work.

LynetteScavo · 18/08/2014 23:08

I've copied and pasted this;

The vast majority of the eggs within the ovaries steadily die, until they are depleted at menopause. At birth, there are approximately 1 million eggs; and by the time of puberty, only about 300,000 remain. Of these, 300 to 400 will be ovulated during a woman's reproductive lifetime. The eggs continue to degenerate during pregnancy, with the use of birth control pills, and in the presence or absence of regular menstrual cycles.

PotOfYoghurt · 18/08/2014 23:39

Ah I see. Thank you very much!

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