A woman can predict how long she has left to conceive by checking how old her mother was at the menopause, according to researchers. A study has found that the number of eggs a woman has left in her ovaries is lower if her mother had an early menopause.
With more women delaying motherhood to their late-30s and beyond, the chances of conceiving fall as the ovaries run down their stock of eggs.
In the UK, the average age of the menopause is 51, but hereditary factors mean that the process can happen earlier in some women than in others. Previous studies have found a link between the age at menopause among mothers and daughters.
But the latest research suggests scientists can provide a way of predicting the number of eggs left – the fertility window or ovarian reserve – in younger women.
Danish scientists looked at two physical markers of ovarian reserve and found they fell faster in those whose mothers had an early menopause.
Study leader Dr Janne Bentzen, from Copenhagen University Hospital, said: ‘This is the first study to suggest that the age-related decline of AMH and AFC may differ between those whose mothers entered menopause before the age of 45 and those whose mothers entered menopause after the age of 55.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/artic ... z2ByXG3yoP
God bless my mom, she is in her 50s and still kicking! ladies, check with your mothers.