Study Shows Women’s Eggs Sharply Decline After 30

A new study by the University of Edinburgh and St Andrews has found that women’s ovarian supply declines more sharply than previously thought. Of the average 2 million eggs that a woman is born with, by the age of 30, the average woman has just 12% of these remaining. By 40, she has just 3%.

The data, which for the first time, mapped out the entire path of ovarian reserve, rather than just lookimg at specific age groups, also found that the average ovarian reserve differs considerably. Some women had over 2 million eggs remaining whilst others had just 35,000.

The study also found that lifestyle factors thought to promote ovarian decline such as smoking, alcohol use and weight, have little impact on a woman’s eggs prior to the age of 25.

Leeds Spire Hospital has recently introduced AMH tests which can measure ovarian reserve. Watch out for my next post on this.