Eggs in the ovaries... are women born with a certain amount?

Question

Do we lose one a month until they're gone? Or do they replenish themselves? If the "certain amount" theory is true, then wouldn't the eggs rot in a certain amount of time? Wouldn't they HAVE to replenish? Or something? Like our organs... heart and liver. These aren't the same heart, skin, and liver I was born with because the cells have been lost and re-created. Do eggs in the ovaries do this too?

Answer 1

No, because if you think about it there are two components, the sperm from the father and the egg of course from the mother. These cells must be split to carry only half of the DNA code a process called meiosis. The cells in the liver and the other parts of the body are reproduced in a process called mitosis and as you say are recreated perfectly because they have your full DNA code and in effect "cloned" and reproduced perfectly one of the theories of aging is that eventually the DNA unwinds and does not make perfect copies anymore and the cells are more prone to disease and degradation....If you think about it this process takes energy and they are not "you" they are fragments of you...eventually the immune system must get rid of them one way or another...it may even get rid of a fertilized egg because it isn't "you." I am sorry to say that they get used up and there is little you can do. If I were a woman I would have my eggs harvested and have them frozen when I was young even if I was unsure if I would ever get married or have sex with a man, just in case. This process happens a billion times in men's bodies which is probably why the testes are outside the body. They must also be kept at a slightly lower body temperature than the rest of the body which explains their peculiar tendencies to expand and contract. The process of getting rid of these cells is more enjoyable to a man than it is a woman though. When you are conceived you have a finite amount of eggs.

Answer 2

The answer is yes, but the amount varries from woman to woman, denoting her fertility.

As for the amount you lose in a given month that too may vary. Some times it is possible to lose more than one egg in a period. It is unusual to happen but it is not with out precedent.

Eggs like sperm do not replenish. They release from the Ovaries as needed and if not fertilized they are rejected by the body to make way for a new egg.

There is no connection betwwen your eggs and your heart or liver. There is some thing to be said about your ovaries being similar to your heart of liver in that they are all organs but unlike your heart or liver your ovaries are rudimentary organs that will not kill you if you lose them. They will require that you supplement your body with estrogen but that is not so you won't die.

As for the tissue regeneration of the heart, liver, skin and ovaries that is there at least up until your ovaries no long serve a purpose, in other words menopause. There is no menopause for the heart, liver, or skin. And just like the skin exfoliates when it serves its purpose, the ovaries wither only they have served their purpose.

At any rate, there is no set number of eggs per woman but most wome can last long into their forties before menopause shows up and some have gone into their fifties.

Answer 3

First off, your body doesn't form eggs. You are born with a set amount. Your body only releases eggs- usually one about every month. On the pills, it depends on what kind you get. Some stop ovulation, some merely decreases the lining of the uterus- which makes it hard for a fertilized egg to attach and some do both. If you take the kind that keeps your body from ovulating, you wont release an egg. So, I am guessing, if you don't ovulate, you keep more eggs? IDK for sure though since I am not an expert and don't recall reading literature over this. Just call and ask your gyno about this since he/she would most likely know the answer.

Answer 4

You only have a certain amount when you are born and that is all you will have for the rest of your life. Grant it, it's somewhere around 500,000 so you're not looking at running out any time soon. But yes, they do "go bad" in a sense. That's why having a baby at a later age is riskier. The eggs are considered to be less viable and healthy. That isn't always the case, but it can be in many cases.

Answer 5

I see your point about blood cells and skin cells. But I think because they are sooooooooooo important, they are more like teeth! You get a certain number and use them through menopause. I have always teased that certain things happened to me while I was still an egg and my mama was still in the 5th grade!

Now you tell me...WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT!?!
Will it change anything? I think the egg thing is a lottery.
If THE right egg comes out and Mr. Sperm comes to visit...that child is conceived. If not, maybe next month! Different child comes then!

Answer 6

Yes, every female is born with a certain amount of eggs. One at a time (normally) they 'mature' and come out of the falopian tube. Men, however, create new sperm all the time. Yes, they do rot. That's why births by older women are a higher risk. The eggs are OLD.

Answer 7

yes there is a certain amount, lost every month. unlike male sperm, females' eggs are not replenished. since the body is living, the eggs will not "rot" as rotting is a process of decay or dying.

Answer 8

I just learned women are born with a certain amount they never come back that's why its best to have children before your 40 because women don't have much left and much harder to have children then once there gone there gone.

Answer 9

You have a certain amount of eggs - which is a lot. Think about when you start puberty and your cycle, once a month ~ all they way until menopause.

Answer 10

we are born with a certain amount of eggs, after we use them up while menstruating every month or getting pregnant, we go thru menopause, we don't menstruate anymore because all the eggs are gone.