9 Crazy Facts About The Female Ova

4. Eggs Grow Up Slow

As well as being much larger than the other cells in the female body, egg cells also grow a lot slower. By that we mean, they take a long time to mature and be released from the ovaries. Other cells in the body mature and move around much faster, but eggs often spend years in a half-matured state in the ovaries before they’re released during ovulation.

5. They’re Super Delicate

The eggs in the female body are�super fragile, which makes things much harder for the scientists involved in attempting to freeze them for later use. They can’t just freeze them, because then they would shatter and break. Instead they use a process called vitrification, which basically causes the outer layer of the eggs to harden, essentially�halting them from decaying in an ice container of their own making.

6. Eggs Age Really Fast

You probably already know this, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing. When women are young, they have lots of healthy eggs. Looking at the numbers, around 90% of the eggs they have are viable and would produce children in the right circumstances. However, once a woman is 41, that number is down to 10%, which explains why so many women are choosing to opt for egg freezing to give them more time to find the man of their dreams.

Next Page: More�Crazy Facts About The Female Ova

Clare Whitfield Chief Editor

Clare Whitfield is the Editor of Stay at Home Mum and a recognised voice in practical home management for Australian families. Based in the northern suburbs of Sydney, she balances editorial leadership with life as a stay at home mum to two school age children. Her background in home economics and more than a decade of experience in recipe development, family budgeting, and household systems inform her work.

See Full Bio