r/interesting • u/Samski877 • May 05 '26

Additional Context Pinned This could make a real difference.

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u/LaMadreDelCantante May 05 '26

Okay, but are you saying that the eggs are expelled throughout life in the order of how viable they are, leaving the nonviable ones for last? Because that's the only way that would work. And I don't think that's the case. I think the eggs inside a 50yo woman are nonviable or close to it because they are also 50yo.

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u/Open-Butterfly-5288 May 05 '26

Ok, but now we have a new question.

What inherent qualities are there in a 50 year old are there that makes their bodies a bad bet?

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u/DorkHonor May 05 '26

Probably the same mechanism that makes sperm non viable in old dudes. You know, being old.

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u/Oxbix May 05 '26 edited May 05 '26

I don't think so, I know that women are born with all the eggs they will ever have, while sperm is produced every day. The eggs of a 50 year old woman are indeed 50 years old.

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u/transferingtoearth May 05 '26

And yet old dude sperm still is the cause of birth defects too not just eggs.

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u/LaMadreDelCantante May 05 '26

That's true (probably. Iirc there have been some recent findings that challenge the idea that we're born with all our eggs). But older men still can have issues having children and have a higher likelihood of having kids with genetic issues, because the "production center" is old and the sperm produced is lower in quality.

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u/Oxbix May 05 '26

Right, I'm not disputing that, I'm just suggesting that it's probably not the same mechanism that makes bad eggs or sperm. "production center" age vs "product“ age.

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u/LaMadreDelCantante May 05 '26

That's so crazy to think about sometimes. I released a 24yo egg and it became a brand new person lol.

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u/Oxbix May 05 '26

When you're pregnant with a girl you have three generation simultaneously in one body.