How Does Age Affect Egg Quality?
Female age is significant in considering the likelihoods for pregnancy due to the relation it has to egg quality, which in result is essential in determining embryo quality. The ovarian reserve is defined as the number of eggs a woman has left for the future. Although egg quantity is certainly related to age, it does limit itself to vary dramatically at any age, considering the quality of eggs is the most significant factor in determining the likelihood of pregnancy.
As you get older, the DNA inside your eggs begins to deteriorate in quality due to our eggs being with us since before we were born and are exposed to different sorts of damage. Such damage can be the influences throughout our lives such as fevers and stress. The exposure can lead to chromosomal abnormalities in our egg cells’ DNA due to human cells (including eggs) being fragile. Once the cell is corrupted, the DNA of the cell cannot be corrected medically. Because DNA is like a direction leaflet or our cells, any damage done to the DNA inside those cells can prevent them from doing what it is supposed to do – in the case of the egg, it is to produce a healthy baby.
Although some women’s eggs are healthier than others, the lifestyle choices, medical and genetic conditions all play a position in the health of your eggs. Some contributing factors for one’s egg quality and/or ovarian reserves are:
- Smoking or drug use
- Chromosomal abnormalities
- Endometriosis
- Ovarian cyst
- Early menopause
- Certain immunological disorders
- Obesity
Ways to optimize your body’s ability to get pregnant consist of having annual wellness exams with your gynecologist, report any irregularities in your menstrual cycles, keep track of your ovulation cycle, and taking care of your body.
We acknowledge that egg quantity and quality declines in the mid-to-late 30s and declines faster in the late 30s and early 40s. Your eggs age with you since you are born with all the eggs you will ever get in your lifetime. Although you are born with about one million eggs, only about “300-500 of these eggs” will actually fully mature by the time you reach the fertile years. If you are 24 years old, your eggs are also 24 years old. Because your body is vulnerable to age-related decline, so too are your eggs.
Women have ovaries that are naturally built to allow only one egg to grow, mature, and be released each cycles per month. That one egg exemplifies the one chance for pregnancy in that specific menstrual cycle. The egg ovulated may be either normal or abnormal. If it is normal, you have a healthy pregnancy. However, if it is not normal, the egg cell usually will not fertilize or implant in the uterus, but in the particular circumstances that they do, it may result in miscarriage or genetic disorders.
The difference between a 24-year-old’s egg quality and a 40-year-old’s egg quality is the probability of the one egg she’s ovulated being normal.
In conclusion, the egg’s age is the fundamental influence in our likelihood at pregnancy. As you age, your eggs age alongside with you. Age matters the most when it regards fertility due to the older you get, the more susceptible your eggs are to damage that results in chromosomal abnormalities.