Evidence Suggests Women's Ovaries Might Be Able to Grow New Eggs

10/11/2016 02:27 pm EDT

Women's so-called "biological clocks" may not be winding down quite the way scientists originally thought. New research shows that women may be able to produce new eggs.

It has been believed for a long time that women are born with a set number of eggs that decline as women age. Which means this new evidence could change the way scientist approach fertility problems.

A study, led by Professor Evelyn Telfer, was attempting to answer the question of why chemotherapy drug ABVD did not cause the same fertility issues seen with other cancer drugs. The data collected showed that young women given the drug actually showed higher quantities of eggs in their ovaries than healthy women their same age.

"This was something remarkable and completely unexpected for us," Telfer told the Guardian. "The tissue appeared to have formed new eggs. The dogma is that the human ovary has a fixed population of eggs and that no new eggs form throughout life."

While this is a first step into looking at the complexity of the ovaries, doctors caution that the positive results don't mean this drug will hit the market as a fertility treatment anytime soon, if ever. Some doctors are even worried that people will push for a quick-fix and wind up disappointed.

"The slight worry is that clinicians are very quick to pick up anything that will improve IVF," Nick Macklon, professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Southampton explained. "There's no evidence at this stage that these drugs would improve the odds for people who are having a poor response to IVF drugs."

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