By Becca Yeamans
There are many ways by which a woman can be infertile, however, most of the time, the problems center around the formation and maturation of the egg (oogenesis). Age at pregnancy is one of those factors that are often cited when discussing fertility rates among women, however, it still is debated exactly how maternal age plays into the fertility story and what can and does go wrong when a woman gets to be of a certain age while pregnant.
There are many ways by which a woman can be infertile, however, most of the time, the problems center around the formation and maturation of the egg (oogenesis). Age at pregnancy is one of those factors that are often cited when discussing fertility rates among women, however, it still is debated exactly how maternal age plays into the fertility story and what can and does go wrong when a woman gets to be of a certain age while pregnant.
In addition to age, external stimuli, such as estrogen-like
compounds like BPA and other EDCs found in the environment as a result of the
various plastics and processed materials in our lives which are designed to
make life “easier”.
In 2008, two researchers from Washington State University in
Pullman, WA put together a very comprehensive review paper illustrating the
different ways in which human female infertility can occur, specifically
focusing on the egg itself and the processes it must go through between
formation and maturation that can run into problems and cause infertility. This paper provides excellent framework for
the mechanisms behind female infertility related to problems with egg
development, which I will summarize briefly for you in this post and draw from
periodically when making possible connections to endocrine disruptors in future
posts.