Does ovarian stimulation damage the store of eggs in the ovaries, leading to the possibility of early menopause?
Definitely not. Ten or more follicles may be encouraged to ripen during stimulation, but this happens during a normal cycle too. The only difference is that most of the follicles die during a normal cycle, leaving only one or two survivors, while all of them ripen with IVF. Ovarian stimulation saves many of the eggs which would otherwise be lost. In the early part of her fertile years, a woman has more than 400,000 egg cells on average, most-of which die spontaneously as the years pass. Stimulation draws on a large reserve of egg cells which would otherwise be unused and wasted.
