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Hypothetical maximum number of embryos from one woman?
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I am working on a setting in which there are a very limited number of human females remaining, and the intent is to repopulate as quickly as possible. Given a modern level of medical technology, what is the maximum number of viable eggs that could be produced by one woman assuming she is somewhere around 25 years of age and reproductively healthy?
EDIT: Just realised I should clarify, in this setting there are artificial wombs available, so it is not a matter of how many pregnancies are possible, just how many eggs could be produced per woman for the purposes of in vitro fertilisation.
humans reproduction
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
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I am working on a setting in which there are a very limited number of human females remaining, and the intent is to repopulate as quickly as possible. Given a modern level of medical technology, what is the maximum number of viable eggs that could be produced by one woman assuming she is somewhere around 25 years of age and reproductively healthy?
EDIT: Just realised I should clarify, in this setting there are artificial wombs available, so it is not a matter of how many pregnancies are possible, just how many eggs could be produced per woman for the purposes of in vitro fertilisation.
humans reproduction
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
The question should be down-voted because the "harvest all eggs from the limited number of uteri" is such an obvious answer.
– RonJohn
1 hour ago
@RonJohn No, it isn't. If you read the question, you will notice that I have stated "given a modern level of medical technology". Thus far, no one has provided evidence that harvesting whole ovaries can be done given modern technology.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
#1 We've been harvesting human eggs, freezing and then thawing them to viability for decades. #2 "a modern level of medical technology" and "there are artificial wombs available" are inconsistent, since artificial wombs for humans are not available.
– RonJohn
55 mins ago
1
#1 Have we been doing that by harvesting all the eggs at once? #2 Artificial wombs are not involved in the procedure of extraction. The question makes it clear that I want to know about using a modern level of medical technology in regards to extraction, regardless of what technology will subsequently be used to grow the embryos. #3 The title is not the question. The question is very clear that I am looking for a realistic answer to a hypothetical situation. I am not intending to actually do this.
– Arkenstein XII
47 mins ago
1
Harvesting whole ovaries isn't the answer. The eggs have to ripen. We don't know how to do that.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
 |Â
show 5 more comments
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
up vote
5
down vote
favorite
I am working on a setting in which there are a very limited number of human females remaining, and the intent is to repopulate as quickly as possible. Given a modern level of medical technology, what is the maximum number of viable eggs that could be produced by one woman assuming she is somewhere around 25 years of age and reproductively healthy?
EDIT: Just realised I should clarify, in this setting there are artificial wombs available, so it is not a matter of how many pregnancies are possible, just how many eggs could be produced per woman for the purposes of in vitro fertilisation.
humans reproduction
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
I am working on a setting in which there are a very limited number of human females remaining, and the intent is to repopulate as quickly as possible. Given a modern level of medical technology, what is the maximum number of viable eggs that could be produced by one woman assuming she is somewhere around 25 years of age and reproductively healthy?
EDIT: Just realised I should clarify, in this setting there are artificial wombs available, so it is not a matter of how many pregnancies are possible, just how many eggs could be produced per woman for the purposes of in vitro fertilisation.
humans reproduction
humans reproduction
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
asked 2 hours ago
Arkenstein XII
956213
956213
The question should be down-voted because the "harvest all eggs from the limited number of uteri" is such an obvious answer.
– RonJohn
1 hour ago
@RonJohn No, it isn't. If you read the question, you will notice that I have stated "given a modern level of medical technology". Thus far, no one has provided evidence that harvesting whole ovaries can be done given modern technology.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
#1 We've been harvesting human eggs, freezing and then thawing them to viability for decades. #2 "a modern level of medical technology" and "there are artificial wombs available" are inconsistent, since artificial wombs for humans are not available.
– RonJohn
55 mins ago
1
#1 Have we been doing that by harvesting all the eggs at once? #2 Artificial wombs are not involved in the procedure of extraction. The question makes it clear that I want to know about using a modern level of medical technology in regards to extraction, regardless of what technology will subsequently be used to grow the embryos. #3 The title is not the question. The question is very clear that I am looking for a realistic answer to a hypothetical situation. I am not intending to actually do this.
– Arkenstein XII
47 mins ago
1
Harvesting whole ovaries isn't the answer. The eggs have to ripen. We don't know how to do that.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
 |Â
show 5 more comments
The question should be down-voted because the "harvest all eggs from the limited number of uteri" is such an obvious answer.
– RonJohn
1 hour ago
@RonJohn No, it isn't. If you read the question, you will notice that I have stated "given a modern level of medical technology". Thus far, no one has provided evidence that harvesting whole ovaries can be done given modern technology.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
#1 We've been harvesting human eggs, freezing and then thawing them to viability for decades. #2 "a modern level of medical technology" and "there are artificial wombs available" are inconsistent, since artificial wombs for humans are not available.
– RonJohn
55 mins ago
1
#1 Have we been doing that by harvesting all the eggs at once? #2 Artificial wombs are not involved in the procedure of extraction. The question makes it clear that I want to know about using a modern level of medical technology in regards to extraction, regardless of what technology will subsequently be used to grow the embryos. #3 The title is not the question. The question is very clear that I am looking for a realistic answer to a hypothetical situation. I am not intending to actually do this.
– Arkenstein XII
47 mins ago
1
Harvesting whole ovaries isn't the answer. The eggs have to ripen. We don't know how to do that.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
The question should be down-voted because the "harvest all eggs from the limited number of uteri" is such an obvious answer.
– RonJohn
1 hour ago
The question should be down-voted because the "harvest all eggs from the limited number of uteri" is such an obvious answer.
– RonJohn
1 hour ago
@RonJohn No, it isn't. If you read the question, you will notice that I have stated "given a modern level of medical technology". Thus far, no one has provided evidence that harvesting whole ovaries can be done given modern technology.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
@RonJohn No, it isn't. If you read the question, you will notice that I have stated "given a modern level of medical technology". Thus far, no one has provided evidence that harvesting whole ovaries can be done given modern technology.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
#1 We've been harvesting human eggs, freezing and then thawing them to viability for decades. #2 "a modern level of medical technology" and "there are artificial wombs available" are inconsistent, since artificial wombs for humans are not available.
– RonJohn
55 mins ago
#1 We've been harvesting human eggs, freezing and then thawing them to viability for decades. #2 "a modern level of medical technology" and "there are artificial wombs available" are inconsistent, since artificial wombs for humans are not available.
– RonJohn
55 mins ago
1
1
#1 Have we been doing that by harvesting all the eggs at once? #2 Artificial wombs are not involved in the procedure of extraction. The question makes it clear that I want to know about using a modern level of medical technology in regards to extraction, regardless of what technology will subsequently be used to grow the embryos. #3 The title is not the question. The question is very clear that I am looking for a realistic answer to a hypothetical situation. I am not intending to actually do this.
– Arkenstein XII
47 mins ago
#1 Have we been doing that by harvesting all the eggs at once? #2 Artificial wombs are not involved in the procedure of extraction. The question makes it clear that I want to know about using a modern level of medical technology in regards to extraction, regardless of what technology will subsequently be used to grow the embryos. #3 The title is not the question. The question is very clear that I am looking for a realistic answer to a hypothetical situation. I am not intending to actually do this.
– Arkenstein XII
47 mins ago
1
1
Harvesting whole ovaries isn't the answer. The eggs have to ripen. We don't know how to do that.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
Harvesting whole ovaries isn't the answer. The eggs have to ripen. We don't know how to do that.
– Cyn
20 mins ago
 |Â
show 5 more comments
5 Answers
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260,000 embryos
Remember, women are born with all the eggs they are ever going to have, and they don't make any new eggs during their lifetime. Women are born with approximately two million eggs in their ovaries, but about eleven thousand of them die every month prior to puberty.
If you were to extract all those eggs at a young age, and had some kind of artificial womb to grow the babies, then you could have a lot of babies.
Now, if you waited till she was 25 to harvest the eggs, then it's going to be a lot less.
11,000 a month till age 12 = 1,584,000.
Then 1000 a month from 12 to 25 = 156,000.
So you are looking at around 260,000, give or take a few.
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/fertility-preservation/for-female-patients/normal-ovarian-function
You start with about 1 million eggs at birth but these decline per month. At puberty you have about 300.000 eggs left. In the 30 to 40 years after puberty these are also depleted. This means at a "worst case" you lose about 10.000 eggs per year, assuming puberty for women starts around 12 years (again keeping it low for a worst case scenario) you would have 170.000 eggs remaining.
So given enough artificial wombs, you harvest the entire ovaries and use techniques to have a 100% success rate if maturing and infecti... I mean fertilising the eggs with male DNA, you would have a pretty awesome growth.
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
1
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
1
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
2
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
1
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
1
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
2
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Recent research has suggested that the conventional wisdom is wrong and that people can generate new eggs within their bodies that were not in there when they were born.
On the other hand, some other smart people have looked at the research and the evidence and remain quite dubious.
On the gripping hand, I don't see any data on the rate of egg creation, which is sort of what your specific question requires, so you're still kind of on your own.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
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Assuming a woman is fertile from age 13 to age 48, producing one egg per month, she can produce about $12 cdot 35 = 420$ eggs.
If you take her from age 25, this means about 276 eggs.
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
2
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
My initial reaction was the same as in Andy's answer, but since your purpose is planetary repopulation you can go a step further.
That is per woman, but only the women who contribute. Some might not.
That is just the first generation of repopulation...
So you do your first generation of repopulation, and you have approximately (number_of_women * 100000) new people now, but approximately half of them will be female as well, so if this is the route you are going, in just 1 year you can do this again with females which possess even more eggs, on the order of a million.
I will assume for a moment that "a very limited number of human females remaining" is 10. Let us ignore genetic diversity for a moment, as this calculation is just to make a statement about population growth rate. So we have 10 females.
10 * 100000 = 1 million babies next year
Then you collect the eggs from the new females, approximately 500000 females at approximately 1 million eggs each...
500000 * 1 million = 500 billion new babies that year
So in only 2 years you have gone from a few humans to 500 billion; that is already 100 times more people than are on our planet today. And if you did the same thing again the next year, there would be... what's after a trillion again? Whatever, a huge number of people.
However!...
Those eggs need to be fertilized, so now you have to ask the same kind of question about males. They generate a lot of sperm all the time, and each 1 could fertilize a very lot of eggs, but not a million of them all at once. So you would need to fertilize them in large batches which would slow this all down a bit. However, this slower rate is still exponential crazy-super-high rate of population growth, and once again total repopulation would not take long at all.
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
add a comment |Â
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
5 Answers
5
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
5
down vote
260,000 embryos
Remember, women are born with all the eggs they are ever going to have, and they don't make any new eggs during their lifetime. Women are born with approximately two million eggs in their ovaries, but about eleven thousand of them die every month prior to puberty.
If you were to extract all those eggs at a young age, and had some kind of artificial womb to grow the babies, then you could have a lot of babies.
Now, if you waited till she was 25 to harvest the eggs, then it's going to be a lot less.
11,000 a month till age 12 = 1,584,000.
Then 1000 a month from 12 to 25 = 156,000.
So you are looking at around 260,000, give or take a few.
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
260,000 embryos
Remember, women are born with all the eggs they are ever going to have, and they don't make any new eggs during their lifetime. Women are born with approximately two million eggs in their ovaries, but about eleven thousand of them die every month prior to puberty.
If you were to extract all those eggs at a young age, and had some kind of artificial womb to grow the babies, then you could have a lot of babies.
Now, if you waited till she was 25 to harvest the eggs, then it's going to be a lot less.
11,000 a month till age 12 = 1,584,000.
Then 1000 a month from 12 to 25 = 156,000.
So you are looking at around 260,000, give or take a few.
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
5
down vote
up vote
5
down vote
260,000 embryos
Remember, women are born with all the eggs they are ever going to have, and they don't make any new eggs during their lifetime. Women are born with approximately two million eggs in their ovaries, but about eleven thousand of them die every month prior to puberty.
If you were to extract all those eggs at a young age, and had some kind of artificial womb to grow the babies, then you could have a lot of babies.
Now, if you waited till she was 25 to harvest the eggs, then it's going to be a lot less.
11,000 a month till age 12 = 1,584,000.
Then 1000 a month from 12 to 25 = 156,000.
So you are looking at around 260,000, give or take a few.
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
260,000 embryos
Remember, women are born with all the eggs they are ever going to have, and they don't make any new eggs during their lifetime. Women are born with approximately two million eggs in their ovaries, but about eleven thousand of them die every month prior to puberty.
If you were to extract all those eggs at a young age, and had some kind of artificial womb to grow the babies, then you could have a lot of babies.
Now, if you waited till she was 25 to harvest the eggs, then it's going to be a lot less.
11,000 a month till age 12 = 1,584,000.
Then 1000 a month from 12 to 25 = 156,000.
So you are looking at around 260,000, give or take a few.
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
edited 57 mins ago
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
answered 2 hours ago
AndyD273
29.9k253130
29.9k253130
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
add a comment |Â
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
I think you should edit the numbers in this answer. Looking at your own linked article the diagram for example shows a logarithmic scale that is already between 200.000 and 500.000 by the time they hit 18. The article lists this: "To recap, the average woman will have three hundred thousand to four hundred thousand eggs at the time of puberty.". The article then mentions that from puberty you lose 1000 eggs per month.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
@Demigan they don't really specify what age puberty is i the article. I have heard that it is happening younger, but it's still a case by case basis. That being said, I missed the bit about 1000 eggs lost a month. so I can update that number.
– AndyD273
59 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
While this was my first reaction as well when reading the question, another issue needs to be addressed, to which I do not know the answer: are they all ready and available for this at all times? When a doctor removes eggs for this purpose, can they just choose any at all, or is there some concept of egg maturity that needs to be taken into account? I assume that all could be taken and used, but I'm not sure.
– Aaron
23 mins ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/fertility-preservation/for-female-patients/normal-ovarian-function
You start with about 1 million eggs at birth but these decline per month. At puberty you have about 300.000 eggs left. In the 30 to 40 years after puberty these are also depleted. This means at a "worst case" you lose about 10.000 eggs per year, assuming puberty for women starts around 12 years (again keeping it low for a worst case scenario) you would have 170.000 eggs remaining.
So given enough artificial wombs, you harvest the entire ovaries and use techniques to have a 100% success rate if maturing and infecti... I mean fertilising the eggs with male DNA, you would have a pretty awesome growth.
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
1
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
1
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
2
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
1
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
1
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/fertility-preservation/for-female-patients/normal-ovarian-function
You start with about 1 million eggs at birth but these decline per month. At puberty you have about 300.000 eggs left. In the 30 to 40 years after puberty these are also depleted. This means at a "worst case" you lose about 10.000 eggs per year, assuming puberty for women starts around 12 years (again keeping it low for a worst case scenario) you would have 170.000 eggs remaining.
So given enough artificial wombs, you harvest the entire ovaries and use techniques to have a 100% success rate if maturing and infecti... I mean fertilising the eggs with male DNA, you would have a pretty awesome growth.
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
1
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
1
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
2
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
1
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
1
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/fertility-preservation/for-female-patients/normal-ovarian-function
You start with about 1 million eggs at birth but these decline per month. At puberty you have about 300.000 eggs left. In the 30 to 40 years after puberty these are also depleted. This means at a "worst case" you lose about 10.000 eggs per year, assuming puberty for women starts around 12 years (again keeping it low for a worst case scenario) you would have 170.000 eggs remaining.
So given enough artificial wombs, you harvest the entire ovaries and use techniques to have a 100% success rate if maturing and infecti... I mean fertilising the eggs with male DNA, you would have a pretty awesome growth.
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
https://www.rogelcancercenter.org/fertility-preservation/for-female-patients/normal-ovarian-function
You start with about 1 million eggs at birth but these decline per month. At puberty you have about 300.000 eggs left. In the 30 to 40 years after puberty these are also depleted. This means at a "worst case" you lose about 10.000 eggs per year, assuming puberty for women starts around 12 years (again keeping it low for a worst case scenario) you would have 170.000 eggs remaining.
So given enough artificial wombs, you harvest the entire ovaries and use techniques to have a 100% success rate if maturing and infecti... I mean fertilising the eggs with male DNA, you would have a pretty awesome growth.
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
answered 1 hour ago
Demigan
5,8911432
5,8911432
1
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
1
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
2
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
1
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
1
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
1
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
1
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
2
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
1
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
1
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
1
1
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
This assumes that the woman in question is willing to have her ovaries removed, which seems like it'd have health consequences for her? Also, is harvesting eggs from whole ovaries even possible given modern technology?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
1
1
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@ArkensteinXII There's a limited number of females remaining, artificial wombs are available with apparently no limit to them as the question is about the amount of eggs available and harvesting is apparently possible as well. So I would guess that the women have little question in willingness, and considering the technology they could leave a portion of the ovaries or perhaps use a technique where they keep the Ovaries inside the womb but extract most of the eggs in several operation sessions (likely through endoscopic operations through the uterus, no sense cutting them open).
– Demigan
1 hour ago
2
2
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
With current tech it is possible to harvest wedges of ovary, freeze them away, and later get out eggs and make babies with them. fertstert.org/article/S0015-0282(17)32178-7/fulltext
– Willk
1 hour ago
1
1
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
@RonJohn I could change the answer but I don't think there's much point. The question is about the amount of eggs available, the answer lists the amount available. If the OP wants to give the women some choice in the matter that's his call and I think his choice on how much freedom those women get in his story.
– Demigan
1 hour ago
1
1
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
This is a good answer; don't change it. I was just emphasizing that willingness has nothing to do with it.
– RonJohn
58 mins ago
 |Â
show 3 more comments
up vote
2
down vote
Recent research has suggested that the conventional wisdom is wrong and that people can generate new eggs within their bodies that were not in there when they were born.
On the other hand, some other smart people have looked at the research and the evidence and remain quite dubious.
On the gripping hand, I don't see any data on the rate of egg creation, which is sort of what your specific question requires, so you're still kind of on your own.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
Recent research has suggested that the conventional wisdom is wrong and that people can generate new eggs within their bodies that were not in there when they were born.
On the other hand, some other smart people have looked at the research and the evidence and remain quite dubious.
On the gripping hand, I don't see any data on the rate of egg creation, which is sort of what your specific question requires, so you're still kind of on your own.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
2
down vote
up vote
2
down vote
Recent research has suggested that the conventional wisdom is wrong and that people can generate new eggs within their bodies that were not in there when they were born.
On the other hand, some other smart people have looked at the research and the evidence and remain quite dubious.
On the gripping hand, I don't see any data on the rate of egg creation, which is sort of what your specific question requires, so you're still kind of on your own.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
Recent research has suggested that the conventional wisdom is wrong and that people can generate new eggs within their bodies that were not in there when they were born.
On the other hand, some other smart people have looked at the research and the evidence and remain quite dubious.
On the gripping hand, I don't see any data on the rate of egg creation, which is sort of what your specific question requires, so you're still kind of on your own.
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
answered 1 hour ago
Roger
9708
9708
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
gripping hand! nice, Heechee dude.
– Willk
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
@Roger You're not wrong. The research I have done seems to indicate that the total number of eggs a woman has and whether new ones are produced are not relevant. Whatever the answers to those questions may be, the maximum number that can be medically extracted safely and given modern technology is going to be much lower than that. However, what that number would be given these technological and biological limitations continues to elude me.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Assuming a woman is fertile from age 13 to age 48, producing one egg per month, she can produce about $12 cdot 35 = 420$ eggs.
If you take her from age 25, this means about 276 eggs.
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
2
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
Assuming a woman is fertile from age 13 to age 48, producing one egg per month, she can produce about $12 cdot 35 = 420$ eggs.
If you take her from age 25, this means about 276 eggs.
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
2
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Assuming a woman is fertile from age 13 to age 48, producing one egg per month, she can produce about $12 cdot 35 = 420$ eggs.
If you take her from age 25, this means about 276 eggs.
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
Assuming a woman is fertile from age 13 to age 48, producing one egg per month, she can produce about $12 cdot 35 = 420$ eggs.
If you take her from age 25, this means about 276 eggs.
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
answered 2 hours ago
L.Dutch♦
67.4k20162318
67.4k20162318
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
2
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
2
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
My understanding is that there are modern IVF techniques that can induce the release of many more eggs, however I can't find any information on how many, or whether the technique can be done repeatedly. Hoping someone might know!
– Arkenstein XII
2 hours ago
2
2
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
@ArkensteinXII, if I recall correctly more than 10 in a single shot of hormonal stimulation is dangerous for the woman health
– L.Dutch♦
2 hours ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
That's good to know. Thanks! Any idea whether the hormonal stimulation has a limit on how many times it can be repeated?
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
My initial reaction was the same as in Andy's answer, but since your purpose is planetary repopulation you can go a step further.
That is per woman, but only the women who contribute. Some might not.
That is just the first generation of repopulation...
So you do your first generation of repopulation, and you have approximately (number_of_women * 100000) new people now, but approximately half of them will be female as well, so if this is the route you are going, in just 1 year you can do this again with females which possess even more eggs, on the order of a million.
I will assume for a moment that "a very limited number of human females remaining" is 10. Let us ignore genetic diversity for a moment, as this calculation is just to make a statement about population growth rate. So we have 10 females.
10 * 100000 = 1 million babies next year
Then you collect the eggs from the new females, approximately 500000 females at approximately 1 million eggs each...
500000 * 1 million = 500 billion new babies that year
So in only 2 years you have gone from a few humans to 500 billion; that is already 100 times more people than are on our planet today. And if you did the same thing again the next year, there would be... what's after a trillion again? Whatever, a huge number of people.
However!...
Those eggs need to be fertilized, so now you have to ask the same kind of question about males. They generate a lot of sperm all the time, and each 1 could fertilize a very lot of eggs, but not a million of them all at once. So you would need to fertilize them in large batches which would slow this all down a bit. However, this slower rate is still exponential crazy-super-high rate of population growth, and once again total repopulation would not take long at all.
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
My initial reaction was the same as in Andy's answer, but since your purpose is planetary repopulation you can go a step further.
That is per woman, but only the women who contribute. Some might not.
That is just the first generation of repopulation...
So you do your first generation of repopulation, and you have approximately (number_of_women * 100000) new people now, but approximately half of them will be female as well, so if this is the route you are going, in just 1 year you can do this again with females which possess even more eggs, on the order of a million.
I will assume for a moment that "a very limited number of human females remaining" is 10. Let us ignore genetic diversity for a moment, as this calculation is just to make a statement about population growth rate. So we have 10 females.
10 * 100000 = 1 million babies next year
Then you collect the eggs from the new females, approximately 500000 females at approximately 1 million eggs each...
500000 * 1 million = 500 billion new babies that year
So in only 2 years you have gone from a few humans to 500 billion; that is already 100 times more people than are on our planet today. And if you did the same thing again the next year, there would be... what's after a trillion again? Whatever, a huge number of people.
However!...
Those eggs need to be fertilized, so now you have to ask the same kind of question about males. They generate a lot of sperm all the time, and each 1 could fertilize a very lot of eggs, but not a million of them all at once. So you would need to fertilize them in large batches which would slow this all down a bit. However, this slower rate is still exponential crazy-super-high rate of population growth, and once again total repopulation would not take long at all.
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
add a comment |Â
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
My initial reaction was the same as in Andy's answer, but since your purpose is planetary repopulation you can go a step further.
That is per woman, but only the women who contribute. Some might not.
That is just the first generation of repopulation...
So you do your first generation of repopulation, and you have approximately (number_of_women * 100000) new people now, but approximately half of them will be female as well, so if this is the route you are going, in just 1 year you can do this again with females which possess even more eggs, on the order of a million.
I will assume for a moment that "a very limited number of human females remaining" is 10. Let us ignore genetic diversity for a moment, as this calculation is just to make a statement about population growth rate. So we have 10 females.
10 * 100000 = 1 million babies next year
Then you collect the eggs from the new females, approximately 500000 females at approximately 1 million eggs each...
500000 * 1 million = 500 billion new babies that year
So in only 2 years you have gone from a few humans to 500 billion; that is already 100 times more people than are on our planet today. And if you did the same thing again the next year, there would be... what's after a trillion again? Whatever, a huge number of people.
However!...
Those eggs need to be fertilized, so now you have to ask the same kind of question about males. They generate a lot of sperm all the time, and each 1 could fertilize a very lot of eggs, but not a million of them all at once. So you would need to fertilize them in large batches which would slow this all down a bit. However, this slower rate is still exponential crazy-super-high rate of population growth, and once again total repopulation would not take long at all.
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
My initial reaction was the same as in Andy's answer, but since your purpose is planetary repopulation you can go a step further.
That is per woman, but only the women who contribute. Some might not.
That is just the first generation of repopulation...
So you do your first generation of repopulation, and you have approximately (number_of_women * 100000) new people now, but approximately half of them will be female as well, so if this is the route you are going, in just 1 year you can do this again with females which possess even more eggs, on the order of a million.
I will assume for a moment that "a very limited number of human females remaining" is 10. Let us ignore genetic diversity for a moment, as this calculation is just to make a statement about population growth rate. So we have 10 females.
10 * 100000 = 1 million babies next year
Then you collect the eggs from the new females, approximately 500000 females at approximately 1 million eggs each...
500000 * 1 million = 500 billion new babies that year
So in only 2 years you have gone from a few humans to 500 billion; that is already 100 times more people than are on our planet today. And if you did the same thing again the next year, there would be... what's after a trillion again? Whatever, a huge number of people.
However!...
Those eggs need to be fertilized, so now you have to ask the same kind of question about males. They generate a lot of sperm all the time, and each 1 could fertilize a very lot of eggs, but not a million of them all at once. So you would need to fertilize them in large batches which would slow this all down a bit. However, this slower rate is still exponential crazy-super-high rate of population growth, and once again total repopulation would not take long at all.
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
answered 10 mins ago
Aaron
2,301518
2,301518
add a comment |Â
add a comment |Â
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The question should be down-voted because the "harvest all eggs from the limited number of uteri" is such an obvious answer.
– RonJohn
1 hour ago
@RonJohn No, it isn't. If you read the question, you will notice that I have stated "given a modern level of medical technology". Thus far, no one has provided evidence that harvesting whole ovaries can be done given modern technology.
– Arkenstein XII
1 hour ago
#1 We've been harvesting human eggs, freezing and then thawing them to viability for decades. #2 "a modern level of medical technology" and "there are artificial wombs available" are inconsistent, since artificial wombs for humans are not available.
– RonJohn
55 mins ago
1
#1 Have we been doing that by harvesting all the eggs at once? #2 Artificial wombs are not involved in the procedure of extraction. The question makes it clear that I want to know about using a modern level of medical technology in regards to extraction, regardless of what technology will subsequently be used to grow the embryos. #3 The title is not the question. The question is very clear that I am looking for a realistic answer to a hypothetical situation. I am not intending to actually do this.
– Arkenstein XII
47 mins ago
1
Harvesting whole ovaries isn't the answer. The eggs have to ripen. We don't know how to do that.
– Cyn
20 mins ago