Is it because eggs have a limited life span anyway?
2007-06-18 04:01:09 · 6 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Biology
Sorry to contradict you, especially as I am a bloke, but your initial statement/belief is wrong.
The main way that oral contraceptives prevent pregnancy is by keeping an egg from maturing fully. Eggs that do not ripen fully cannot be fertilized. In addition, birth control pills thicken mucus in the woman's body through which the sperm has to swim. This makes it more difficult for the sperm to reach the egg. Oral contraceptives also change the uterine lining so that a fertilized egg cannot lodge there to develop.
2007-06-18 04:27:37 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes, the egg does have a limited life span and is reabsorbed back into the body and flushed out during menses.
The contraceptive pill tricks your body into thinking that you are not pregnant (hormonally) and so even if the egg is fertilized it does not develop because it needs a special hormonal environment. Thus, the fertilized egg doesnt survive and is reabsorbed during menses just like the unfertilized eggs.
Once an egg is mature and released from the ovary, that egg can not be retained in the body.
No, your right(below me), the egg is actually not released while on birth control pills. However, the above situation can occur if you just started taking the pill and the month before you were on the pill your egg was fertilized. Then, the egg would not survive because birth control pills cause a change in hormonal status that doesnt promote development of the egg.
This is why it is very important to make sure you are not pregnant before beginning to take the pill-my mistake! Thanks for pointing that out.
2007-06-18 11:17:25 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Oral contraceptives were originally developed, not to prevent pregnancy, but as fertility drugs to increase the odds of pregnancy. Most act by preventing ovulation (the relase of an egg).
A woman, when she reaches her teens, will develop all the eggs she will ever have. They are held in her ovaries, and normally released one per month. Most contraceptives prevent the release. However, when you go off the pill, some (not all) of them will cause your body to release several eggs all at once. This is how they are used as a fertility drug. The more eggs, the more change of a pregnancy - or multiple pregnancies. This is were the 4,5,6, and more kids at a time come from.
So, with most pills, it does "save eggs" in that they are not released while you are on the pill.
2007-06-18 11:15:40 · answer #3 · answered by dewcoons 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because the body destroys any unused eggs.
2007-06-18 11:05:46 · answer #4 · answered by icam62 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Most contraceptives don't prevent ovulation. They just interrupt fertilization or implantation.
2007-06-18 11:07:22 · answer #5 · answered by gfulton57 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
as far as i can remmember im sure someone (doctor) told me that a girl is born with them all but they die as they get older or used up.
2007-06-18 11:07:26 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋