# at birth a female will have lost millions of eggs already > In the next twenty weeks of wombing, 4 million of those eggs will die, and by puberty all but 400,000 will have taken to the wing, without a squabble, without a peep.[[Woman by Natalie Angier#^2f5w5]] > At birth, one million of primordial follicles are present, a number which will disappear by atresia[[(Moghadam et al., 2022)#^oa1f3]] - See: [[at 20 weeks gestation the fetus will hold the most eggs she will ever have]]