Dr. Kutluk Oktay, MD, PhD: Ovarian Aging, Fertility Preservation, and Delaying Menopause

Menopause does not begin when periods stop. Ovarian reserve and egg quality have been declining for decades, and that decline accelerates for many women in their late 30s.

I sat down with Kutluk Oktay, MD, PhD, FACOG, a reproductive endocrinologist, ovarian biologist, and pioneer in ovarian tissue cryopreservation and transplantation. He explains why women are born with the eggs they will ever have, what changes after age 37, why adult ovaries do not appear to regenerate eggs, and why one AMH result should not be treated as a complete picture of ovarian reserve.

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We also discuss ovarian tissue cryopreservation, a procedure he helped establish for medical fertility preservation. His team is now studying whether tissue frozen earlier in life and transplanted later could extend ovarian function and delay menopause. We cover what is already established, what remains investigational, when the procedure may offer more benefit, and how growing follicles in the lab could eventually change IVF.

In this conversation

-Why ovarian aging accelerates after age 37

-What AMH measures and why one test can mislead

-How PMOS can affect ovulation and ovarian reserve

-What ovarian tissue freezing can and cannot do

-Why menopause delay remains investigational

-How future IVF may avoid ovarian stimulation

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X: ⁠https://x.com/kutlukoktay⁠

Yale profile: https://medicine.yale.edu/profile/kutluk-oktay/

Oktay Lab: https://medicine.yale.edu/lab/oktay/

Innovation Fertility Preservation and IVF: https://www.fertilitypreservation.org/

Menopause delay research: https://www.fertilitypreservation.org/contents/fertility-preservation-details/menopausedelay

NoPauze calculator: https://www.fertilitypreservation.org/contents/probability-calculator/nopauze-calculator

2024 menopause-delay modeling study: PubMed PMID 38184290

#FemaleLongevity #OvarianAging #Menopause #FertilityPreservation #OvarianReserve #ReproductiveLongevity #WomensHealth #AMH #PMOS #IVF