The common theory is that a female is born with all the eggs she'll ever have, about 2 million at birth. That reduces to about 300,000 at age 25. These are actually potential eggs in the form of ovarian follicles. There is a hormone test AMH (Anti-Mullerian Hormone) that costs about $100 to find out how much is in the ovarian reserve bank but that only accounts for quantity not quality. During each menstrual cycle, one egg gets to take center stage to be released from the ovary. Women lose about 1000 follicles each month. Egg quality decreases with age. From 30 to 40, a woman’s chances of getting pregnant drops from 20% to 5%. And from age 35 to 40, the chance of miscarriage goes up from 20% to 40%. Men produce about 1500 sperm cells every second and will produce over 500 billion sperm cells in a lifetime. Sperm quality also decreases with age. It’s the combination of both partner’ ages that determines the likelihood of pregnancy. 

 

Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) is a hormone secreted by the developing egg sacs (follicles).

 

 

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