Facts about the female egg that you need to know

You must have often heard about how to attract male sperm to discuss. However, how much do you know about eggs? You only know that a woman's egg is very necessary in the fertilization process. Did you know that a woman's egg has been produced in the womb? Here are some interesting egg facts for you.

What are some facts about eggs that you need to know?

1. Egg cells have been produced since the fetus

Nine weeks after the fertilization process occurs, it turns out that the fetus has started producing eggs. By six months of gestation, the female fetus has made more than seven oocytes or eggs. At birth, most of these immature eggs are dead, which is normal.

2. Egg cells are very large

Did you know that the egg has a very large shape? You may be surprised to learn that the egg is one of the largest cells in a woman's body. The egg has a diameter of about 100 microns (one millionth of a meter), or about the thickness of a hair and can be seen with the naked eye. The comparison is that an egg cell is four times larger than a skin cell, 26 times larger than a red blood cell, and 16 times larger than a sperm.

3. The number is limited

The next egg fact is that the average woman ovulates only 400 to 500 eggs in her life. This makes eggs much rarer than sperm. So, maybe this is one of the reasons that eggs are so much more valuable than sperm. Egg donors will usually get a much higher reward than sperm donors.

4. It is difficult to donate eggs

When a man donates sperm, he can do this process by masturbating only and nothing more. However, to donate eggs, women must undergo complicated medical procedures.

First, the donor will receive a hormone injection that will "hyperstimulate" the ovaries, so that their body makes not only one egg, but dozens. When the time is right, the doctor will insert a catheter into the birth canal to suck fluid from the follicle, and catch some eggs in the woman's body.

5. Long life cycle

Unlike other cells in the body, the egg takes years to "grow". This means that the egg spends a lot of its life in an immature state in the ovaries or takes a relatively long time to reach the maturity stage. Once mature, one of them is released during the ovulation process. Every one production cycle, only one egg is released, alternating from the left and right ovaries.

6. The egg will choose which sperm can reach it

In the process of fertilization, the egg is often described as a passive "player" who only waits for the first sperm to come and enter it. However, studies have shown that eggs have a much bigger role than expected because they are quite picky.

The egg actually chooses which sperm can enter it. The study also showed that the eggs even actively ensnared the selected sperm on their surface, leaving them with no other choice.

When the selected sperm enter it, the outer layer of the egg hardens to prevent other sperm from entering it.

The last egg fact that you need to know is that your overall health greatly determines the quality of the egg cell because these important cells are actually already in the body, not just made every month during fertile days.