how many eggs is a woman born with
A baby girl is usually born with about 1–2 million eggs in her ovaries, and no new eggs are made after that.
Quick Scoop
- Around 20 weeks of pregnancy (while still a fetus), she has roughly 6–7 million eggs.
- By birth , that pool has naturally shrunk to about 1–2 million eggs.
- By puberty , about 300,000–500,000 remain.
- Over a lifetime, only 300–400 of those eggs are ever actually ovulated; the rest simply break down naturally.
In short: she’s born with her lifetime supply of eggs already in place, and that number only goes down from there.
| Life stage | Approximate egg count |
|---|---|
| Fetus (20 weeks in the womb) | 6–7 million eggs | [1][3][5][7]
| At birth | 1–2 million eggs | [3][5][7][9][1]
| At puberty | 300,000–500,000 eggs | [9][1][3]
| By menopause | About 1,000 eggs left | [5][3][9]
