Oocytes are contained in the ovaries (right and left ovaries). Each ovary normally contains several thousand immature oocytes, present from birth, the number of which gradually diminishes over the course of a woman's life. From puberty onwards, around ten of these oocytes develop each month, culminating in the ovulation of a single mature oocyte that can be fertilized by a spermatozoon (ovulation = expulsion of an oocyte from the ovary). The remaining, unfertilized oocytes in this cycle disappear naturally, so the oocyte stock diminishes with a woman's age, as does oocyte quality.
Ovulation stimulation does not reduce the stock of oocytes. It stimulates all the oocytes programmed for that cycle, so as to bring several of them to maturity, rather than causing them to disappear naturally. Donating oocytes does not reduce the stock of oocytes, nor does it bring forward the age of menopause or reduce fertility.
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