That number falls to 1 million by the time of birth and continues to fall, though at a slower rate, through life. As she enters her childbearing years, a woman will have about 180,000 eggs primed and ready to go. Why she loses so many eggs along the way and yet enters her childbearing years with vastly more than she will ever need are two of life’s many imponderables. The bottom line is that as a woman ages, the number and quality of her eggs diminishes, and that can be a problem for those who postpone childbirth to the later stages of their productive years, which is exactly what is happening
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