Number of eggs released in the life time of a woman is approximately

Options

A. 40
B. 400
C. 4000
D. 20000

Answer

To determine the number of eggs released in the lifetime of a woman, we can follow these steps:

### Step-by-Step Solution:

1. **Understanding Egg Reserve at Birth**:
- A female is born with approximately 1 million eggs (oocytes) in each ovary. Since women have two ovaries, the total number of eggs at birth is about 2 million.

2. **Eggs at Puberty**:
- By the time a girl reaches puberty, the number of eggs decreases significantly due to atresia (the process of degeneration of ovarian follicles). At puberty, a woman has around 300,000 to 400,000 eggs remaining.

3. **Ovulation Cycle**:
- During a woman's reproductive years, she typically ovulates one egg per menstrual cycle. The average menstrual cycle occurs about once a month.

4. **Calculating the Number of Ovulations**:
- A woman usually experiences menstruation from puberty (around age 12) until menopause (around age 50). This gives an approximate reproductive span of 38 years.
- If we assume that a woman ovulates approximately once a month, that results in about 12 ovulations per year.

5. **Total Eggs Released**:
- Over 38 years, the total number of ovulations (and thus eggs released) would be:
\[ 12 \text{ ovulations/year} \times 38 \text{ years} = 456 \text{ eggs} \]
- However, not every cycle results in ovulation, and some cycles may be anovulatory (no egg released). Therefore, the approximate number of eggs released in a lifetime is generally estimated to be around 400.

6. **Conclusion**:
- Based on the calculations and biological understanding, the approximate number of eggs released in the lifetime of a woman is about **400**.

### Final Answer:
The number of eggs released in the lifetime of a woman is approximately **400**.

---